An Appalachian Mother Goose

by James Still

Who hasn't heard of Jack Sprat, Little Boy Blue, and Peter the pumpkin eater? These colorful characters from the Mother Goose rhymes have been a staple of children's literature for the last two hundred years. James Still, long known for his ability to bring the rhythmic and evocative language of the Appalachian region onto the page, now brings fresh life to these rhymes.

This new Mother Goose introduces readers to the delights of gooseberry pie, the festivities of Jockey Day, and the dangers of witch-broom. Who knew that the man in the moon was really on his way to Hazard, Kentucky, or that a person "has only to bathe in honey dew" to avoid getting freckles?

Genres: Poetry, Childrens

64 pages, Hardcover

First published September 17, 1998

About the author

For the American playwright, see James Still.

James Still (July 16, 1906 – April 28, 2001) was an Appalachian poet, novelist and folklorist. He lived most of his life in a log house along the Dead Mare Branch of Little Carr Creek, Knott County, Kentucky. He was best known for the novel River of Earth, which depicted the struggles of coal mining in eastern Kentucky.

Still’s mother was sixteen when she moved to Alabama due to a tornado destroying the family home. His father was a horse doctor with no formal training. James Still was born July 16, 1906 near Lafayette, Chambers County, Alabama. Still was considered a quiet child but a hard worker. He along with his nine siblings worked the family farm. They farmed cotton, sugar cane, soybeans and corn. At the age of seven, Still began grade school. He found greater interest not in the school text books but at home where there was an edition of the Cyclopedia of Universal Knowledge. He became enriched with philosophy, physics and the great British poets – Shakespeare and Keats.

After graduating from high school, Still attended Lincoln Memorial University of Harrogate, Tennessee. He worked at the rock quarry in the afternoons and as a library janitor in the evenings. He would often sleep at the library after spending the night reading countless literature. In 1929, he graduated from Lincoln and headed over to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. While there, he became involved in a controversial miner strike in Wilder, Tennessee. The miners were starving due to holding the picket line; Still delivered a truckload of food and clothing for the miners. After a year at Vanderbilt, he transferred to the University of Illinois and earned a graduate degree.

Still tried various professions including the Civil Service Corps, Bible salesman and even had a stint picking cotton in Texas. His friend Don West – a poet, civil rights activist, among other things – offered Still a job organizing recreation programs for a Bible school in Knott County, Kentucky. Still accepted the position but soon became a volunteer librarian at the Hindman Settlement School. Knott County, would become Still’s lifelong home.

James Still served as a Sergeant in the US Army in WWII and was stationed in Egypt in 1944.

Still moved into a two-story log house once occupied by a fine crafter of dulcimers, Jethro Amburgey. He would remain here till his death. Here, he began writing his masterpiece, River of Earth. It was published February 5, 1940. River of Earth depicts the struggles of a family trying to survive by either subsisting off the land or entering the coal mines of the Cumberland Plateau in the reaches of eastern Kentucky. Still depicts the Appalachian mining culture with ease. Mines close often and the family is forced to move and find other means to survive. Still received the Southern Author's Award shortly after publication which he shared with Thomas Wolfe for his work You Can’t Go Home Again. Still went on to publish a few collections of poetry and short stories, a juvenile novel and a compilation of Appalachian local color he collected over the years. The children's book "Jack and the Wonderbeans" was adapted for the stage by the Lexington Children's Theatre in 1992. Still participated in one performance, reading a portion of the book to open the show. He died April 28, 2001 at the age of 94.

Reviews

[Makkena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has tons of older stories that I was told as a child.

[Kylie Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides many appalachian poems that have been passed down through generations! This book would be great to incorporate as a poem a day

[Abigail Hostetler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for exposing children to poetry as well as Appalachia culture. Could be good to read aloud individual poems.

[Amanda Spears · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has lots of poems about the Appalachian culture.

[Wallace Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Genre: I placed this title in my reading log under Children’s Mother Goose Picture Books

Summary: Located in the Appalachia Mountains, there were one-room schools, Blab Schools. Here students took Mother Goose rhymes and put a little Appalachia culture into them, helping them remember and understand them.

Critique:

(a.) I feel a strength in this title belongs to the author and his ability to transfer / insert a separate dialect, Appalachia, into historical Mother Goose rhymes that many children grew knowing only in the form of proper English.

(b.) Living in the Appalachia Region I felt this would be an interesting title. I have to admit, I was not very pleased. Maybe it’s because I grew up in Northern Virginia and remember nursery rhymes back from my childhood. Now that I have read this title, many portions of it out load, in a different dialect, has made me dislike this title. An example can be seen on page 2 in the line, “The cow sang ballads to the moon,” and line 4, “He thought them daft.” Another example is found on page 14,
“Rain, rain, go away
We children want to play.
Don’t come Saturday,
Don’t come Sunday,
Come again some school day.”
Once again, this is not how I remembered these rhymes and definitely not a way I would want my children to learn them. Maybe I am being partial to my upbringing.

(c.) I do like how the author puts in place a key on some of the pages for a word that one might not understand. For example, on page 14 the word wheelspindle is defined as a wood thrush. On page 28, sharp-tack means a wiseacre. There are many words throughout this title that needs help to understand, so good job to the author for this part.

Curriculum Connection: I was not very pleased with this title and truly do not think I would share it much less recommend it to any students in the K – 8th grade level. I had a hard time understanding some of it, I can only imagine that they would struggle as well.

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This, here, is a poetry book in the guise of a picture book. The disconnect between the whimsical illustrations, and the hard, worldly wise text, are somewhat jarring. In attempting to capture the fun a mid-century Appalachian child would have with these words, Still and Johnson have alienated the modern youth. A couple of the poems are absolutely brilliant subversions of the traditional Mother Goose. Still's take on "Little Bo-Peep" and "Pussycat, Pussycat" are my particular favourites.