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 August 2008
Hello My Dears, I'm so happy to visit with you again and share our love for reading. It's been a busy summer, so let's get right to it.
I had the pleasure of meeting Western Massachusetts illustrator Ruth Sanderson at a Barnes and Noble Bookstore. She is someone who shares our love for reading, books, and everything Mother Goose.
For 20 years, Ruth Sanderson has been "retelling" some of the literary world's most classic children's books, such as Snow White and Rose Red, Sleeping Beauty, The Twelve Dancing Princesses (before Barbie got a hold of the story) and Cinderella.
In fact, if you saw Sex and the City-The Movie you're already acquainted with her work. Her Cinderella with its distinct Sanderson-illustration style and sparkly cover, jumped out from the screen and was instrumental to the storyline as Sarah Jessica Parker's character, Carrie, reads it to Charlotte's daughter, Lily.
Mother Goose and Friends (Little, Brown 2008) is her latest collection, featuring some of the most well-known rhymes, as well as a few she added.
"I've always wanted to do Mother Goose because some of my happiest memories have been reading them to my girls at different times," said Sanderson. "For over 20 years, I've been collecting these stories and just filing them away at the back of my mind."
The review of Mother Goose and Friends in Publisher's Weekly was almost as glowing as a Sanderson illustration: "As fans of Ruth Sanderson's painterly fairy tale retellings might expect, her Mother Goose collection is an invitation to an oldfashioned world of enchantment. Her oil paintings teem with Victorian fairies and elves as well as human beings: they present gardens full of wild flowers, pumpkin houses, mice in waistcoats, tables set for tea, and a plump muffin man, and each time the human details merge attractively with the imaginary scenery...Luminous and elegant."
While some traditional nursery rhymes are clearly from another era, such as Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater who put his wife in a pumpkin shell and "there he kept her very well," Sanderson's versions won't cause any nightmares, if read at bedtime.
It's clear that the Department of Social Services wasn't around when they wrote "There was an old woman, who lived in a shoe; She had so many children, she didn't know what to do. So she gave them some broth, without any bread and whipped them all soundly, and sent them to bed."
In her book, the children are sweetly kissed and put to bed.
"I never liked that ending so I make it satisfying to me to want to retell it," said Sanderson. "My editing is more kid friendly."
"In my version, Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater is a sweet little mouse," she said. "That made sense to me, to want to keep his wife safe in their little home. These are resourceful characters who found a safe haven in a pumpkin. It redeems both of them."
About Sanderson
She grew up in the Western Massachusetts town of Monson and taught herself to paint when she was 13. Although she was a natural talent, she was shy and said books were a way to identify with characters that were brave and got to do exiting things.
After graduating from the Paier School of Art she found herself working on some of the same books she had read as a child, when she made children's illustrations and full-color book covers.
The Black Stallion series and the Nancy Drew series were being put into paperback for the first time when she was assigned the 18 covers for each series. She also did black and white picture books and an edition of The Little Engine that Could.
In the early '80s she began to do a number of Golden Books. Her big break came with the assignment to illustrate an edition of Heidi, with 100 full color paintings. She then illustrated The Secret Garden and then her first fairy tale The Sleeping Beauty followed by five more fairytales.
Mother Goose and Friends took three years to complete and was released this spring. As she attended book signings at book stores throughout the Bay State, she said she was surprised children didn't know some of the most basic rhymes.
"I'm amazed that they are not so universal," Sanderson said. "But there was a period where bookstores weren't carrying them because mothers and grandmothers would recite them from memory as they bounced children on their legs. To some extent that's still true. Everyone knows This Little Piggy."
Since the release of Mother Goose and Friends, she has kept herself very well, and very busy finishing her retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears which will be released next year.
"I've changed the ending to make it satisfying to me to want to retell it," said Sanderson, "It's really fun to read aloud."
For more about Ruth Sanderson, visit www.goldenwoodstudio.com.
Mother Goose's alter ego, Lisa D. Welsh has been a professional communicator for more than 20 years. As a reporter for newspapers and magazines she understands the powerful impact that words have and the important correlation between reading and writing. Mrs. Welsh brings the character of Mother Goose to life at library story hours, school enrichment, birthday parties, and the occasional country fair. To contact her, e-mail info@Mother-N-Goose.com or visit www.Mother-N-Goose.com.
Win an Autographed Copy of Mother Goose and Friends Book
Monson illustrator Ruth Sanderson has generously offered five autographed copies of her new book Mother Goose and Friends for Bay State Parent readers.
To enter go online and fill out a survey at www.baystateparent.com/common/contests.html.
The deadline to enter is Friday, Sept. 5 at 11:59 p.m. Contest is open to Massachusetts readers only. Winners' name and hometown will be posted on the magazine's blog at www.baystateparent. blogspot.com. Prize will be mailed upon address verification. Any questions e-mail editor@baystateparent.com
Bay State Parent magazine offers exclusive contests monthly online. Check out this month's offerings at www.baystateparent.com/common/contests.html
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