I must have had my dad read these stories a million times at bed time. I remember always bugging him to read one more story. It has been so many years since then and I can't wait to read them to my own children, although i don't think I can do the voices quit so well. The illustrations in the hardcover edition were beautiful and i would spend so much time pretending with my little sister that we lived in rootabaga country. It will be a pleasure to reread all the stories of my childhood. When i would pick rootabaga stories at bedtime even over everybodies all time favorite Winnie-the-pooh.

Carl Sandburg, winner of Pulitzer Prizes both for his biography of Abraham Lincoln and for his COMPLETE POEMS, explores another genre in ROOTABAGA STORIES, fairy tales that he wrote for his daughters. When asked how he wrote the stories, Sandburg replied, "The children asked questions, and I answered them."

The ROOTABAGA STORIES are unconventional in almost every way. Unlike traditional fairy tales, they have no perfect princesses and evil witches. They are American fairy tales with a rural flavor and, in fact, they have no evil characters. The settings, though fanciful, include images that defined America in the 1920s, when the stories were published: the railroad, which "ran across the prairie, to the mountains, to the sea," and the skyscraper.

In Rootabaga Country the railroad tracks go from straight to zigzag, the pigs wear bibs (some checked, some striped, some polka-dotted), and the biggest city is the Village of Liver-and-Onions. Characters in this fanciful world are equally peculiar: Please Gimme, Blixie Blimber, Eeta Peeca Pie, and dozens of others. Children and literary critics alike would be hard-pressed to explain (even symbolically) the events that occur in the stories. Nevertheless, meaning comes through and truth is revealed. For example, in "Three Boys with Jugs of Molasses and Secret Ambitions," ambition is defined as "a little creeper that creeps and creeps in your heart night and day, singing a little song, 'Come and find me, come and find me.'" Who would expect that "The Two Skyscrapers Who Decided to Have a Child" would have an absolutely poignant ending?

Although the events of the stories may not be explainable, the stories are replete with concrete images. Sandburg provides both visual and auditory description with musical, repetitious phrases and novel juxtaposition of words ("a daughter who is a dancing shaft of light on the ax handles of morning"). Occasionally he invents words, such as "pfisty-pfoost," the sound of the train's steam engine, and "bickerjiggers," the buttons on an accordion.

ROOTABAGA STORIES are wonderful for reading aloud. They provide an opportunity for readers and listeners to delight in language and revel in truths revealed in a fanciful world.

Sometimes it is late and you want to read your child something short so you naturally will reach for this book - where most of the stories are 4 pages or less and they are not really connected - the problem is: you can seldom stop at one and if you are not careful you will read the whole book! My 10 year old is just as mesmerized by Sandberg's words as my 8 year old was 2 years ago, mostly because Sandberg's choice of words and fantastic plots and settings are continually unexpected and surprising. I'm mesmerized too, but I won't reveal my age.

This is an excellent book for youngsters just emerging from the board book stage. With only a small amount of text per page, it combines a number of elements with great appeal to little ones: animals, a human baby and its mother, just the right amount of repetition in the text, and even a bit of gentle suspense. Grab this classic while you can! It will be a favorite with children and adults alike. It would be much appreciated as a gift or library donation, new or used.

I grew up with this book, read it to my own kids and read it to the children in my first grade classes. The book is appropriate fr ages 2--8. The stories are simple, but engaging, and the language is gently repetitive and delightful. You will want to read it aloud again and again just to hear yourself say "Andrewshek's Auntie Katushka."

This book is a collection of American Rhymes and Jingles from all the ages. It was written 1966, but many of the ryhmes in it are still around today. Some examples are How Much Wood Could a Woodchuck Chuck, Mary had a Little Lamb, This Little Pig, and Star Light Star Bright. This book is very well illustrated, compared to other books of this time period.

This book was the staple of my rocking chair reading as a child, and it spurred my imagination in a dozen ways. First my mother read them to me, then the book became my own. Thirty years since I last pressed my face to its pages, I raised it with my Creative Writing students this morning in modeling a poetry exercise about how words first impact our lives. There is something other-worldly about the illustrations here, too -- surreal perhaps, even unsettling in the way the best art is. I don't pretend that the verse or the images are cutting edge, or high art, but there is in them something wonderfully off-kilter, and soothing at the same time.

I love this book and enjoy reading it to my daughter. She loves it, because she has a sense of reading, having memorized many of the verses. It is a wonderful collection of children's rhymes and verses. I feel a real continuity between my own childhood and my daughter's by sharing these with her, as my own mother and grandmother shared these same rhymes with me. A treasure to keep.

Any child who has ever felt that he or she doesn't fit in somehow will get a secret charge out of reading Maud and Miska Petersham's wonderful and empathetic "The Circus Baby."

Mama Elephant so admires her friends the clown family that she decides that Baby Elephant should emulate them--to the point of sitting in a chair and using a spoon while eating. Of course Baby Elephant has a terribly difficult time with this, to the point that he inadvertently topples over the clown family's tent! All is forgiven, and Mama Elephant lets Baby be himself.

The Petershams' illustrations are even better than the sweet text. Giving off a wonderful 1930s visual flavor, they employ sure lines and bright colors to heighten the circus atmosphere. All in all, a delight!