The Charles Addams Mother Goose [Hardcover]

Charles Addams (Author, Illustrator)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 56 pages
• Publisher: Windmill Books, 1st Edition; 1st edition (October 31, 1967)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1122681720
• ISBN-13: 978-1122681728
• ASIN: B000GYKICK
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,482,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creepy Fun for Kids of All Ages, November 17, 2003

By 

C. T. Mikesell (near Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Charles Addams Mother Goose (Hardcover)

Addams' wit, even more than his illustrations, makes this book a five-star classic. It isn't hard to imagine a macabre picture accompanying "Three Blind Mice," but Addams goes further than the typical fare by including Grant Wood's "American Gothic" couple (as the farmer and his wife) and giving Mrs. Farmer an electric carving knife to de-tail the mice. Casting a mobster and beatnik as the "rat" and "cat" in the "House that Jack Built" poem is another master stroke. ...and just what have Mr. Sprat and his wife eaten?

My favorite illustration accompanies "Fishy, fishy in the brook/Daddy catch him on a hook...." Could anyone but Addams create a "Daddy" with a Capt. Hook-style prosthetic at the end of his arm? Classic. ("Little Miss Muffet" runs a close second to this poem and illustration.)

The "scrapbook" is a nice addition at the end of the book, but it doesn't quite live up to the blurb on the front of the dust jacket.

The only drawback to the book is that when the picture spans two pages so much of the illustration gets sucked into the binding. This most noticably detracts from poems like "The Old Woman Who Lived Under a Hill" and "St. Dunstan," where the heart of the illustration takes place in the center of the image.

All in all, a great book; even the minor detractions serve to make you want more of Addams delightfully twisted artwork.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for the young-at-heart !, December 11, 1998

By 

Natalie Mintz ([e-mail]) (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Charles Addams' Mother Goose (Paperback)

I highly recommend this book for those of us who enjoy children's stories. Although it may be a bit too dark for children, it is perfect for "old" kids who have a twisted sense of humor!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ghoulishly delightful vision for grownups, January 3, 2003

By 

Peter B. Nelson (Pine Island, MN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Charles Addams Mother Goose (Hardcover)

This book contains only a couple dozen of the best rhymes. No illustration is smaller than a single page, and many cover two. The paper cover's artwork is also printed directly on the hard board binding, so the paper cover can be torn or discarded with no real loss. It is about 9"x11" in size. I read this last night and repeatedly laughed out loud at the bizarre and darkly humorous renditions of my childhood favorites. Characters from his signature "Addams Family" cartoons can be identified in some. One of my favorite drawings accompanies wee-willie-winkie. Compare Addams vision of a demented and ghoulish peeping-tom to the sweet night-watchman of Richardson in the Volland edition. I seriously question whether or not this material is even appropriate for children age 4-8 (as suggested above). However, it seems to me eminently suitable for adults with a love of Mother Goose or Charles Addams, or both.