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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I would love to give this five stars, and if I was going on the cartoons alone I would. Charles Addams was a genius, but he is ill-served by this edition of his Mother Goose. Too many cartoons are spread over two pages, which means that the centre details are lost and the pleasure of Addams' warped wit is often lost with it: you virtually have to break the spine to see what the old woman under the hill is doing. I do not know whether the publishers took this wrong-headed approach because the book would otherwise be too slim or whether they were concerned about images potentially being scanned and pirated. Whatever the reason, they have published a botched version of something that could have been quite wonderful. Such a shame. Chas should come back and haunt them like his splendidly ghoulish Wee Willie Winkie.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars
16 reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Creepy Fun for Kids of All Ages
17 Nov 2003
By C. T. Mikesell
- Published on Amazon.com
Format: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 !
11 Dec 1998
By Natalie Mintz (anmintz@galaxy-7.net)
- Published on Amazon.com
Format: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!
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ghoulishly delightful vision for grownups
3 Jan 2003
By Peter B. Nelson
- Published on Amazon.com
Format: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.
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4.7 out of 5 stars
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