Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Goop Tales: Alphabetically Told, by Gelett Burgess


Above is a page of Burgess' book, Goops and How to be Them, introducing the Goops.

Well, now that I have explained my infatuation with the stories of the Goops, I might as well blog about a Goop book. I never knew how many children's books Gelett Burgess had published. The one I read in my imaginary schoolhouse called Goops and How to be Them, was published in 1900. It is a collection of poems about misbehaving children. It is classified as a manual on manners and is supposed to teach kids manners using poems and small drawings about the horrible Goops as examples of BAD BEHAVIOR.

This "new" book (not really new, but new to me - published 1905) about the Goops, is even more similar to Ashman's M is for Mischief than the other book that initially sparked my curiosity in this whole thing. I wonder if Goop Tales was an inspiration for Ashman's humorous manners book??

Goop Tales is an alphabetical collection of poems about poor mannered children, the beginning letters of their names and behaviors correspond to a letter of the alphabet.

The book is so funny! I think that, even though the book is more than one hundred years old, the content and messages are still relevant and can be humorous as well! I'm definitely going to keep these on the shelf and continue my search for more of Burgess' children's books.

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