An Appalachian Mother Goose

Illustrated by Paul Brett Johnson
ISBN: 0-8131-2092-6

Who hasn’t heard of Jack Spratt, 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 200 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?

James Still (1906-2001), was born on Double Creek in Alabama, one of 10 children. For most of his life he lived in a log house between Dead Mare Branch and Wolfpen Creek in Knott County, Kentucky. He enjoyed a long relationship with Hindman Settlement School where he first began work as a librarian and lived in his later years.

His early books – a book of poems, Hounds on the Mountain (1937); his celebrated novel River of Earth (1940); and a collection of stories, On Troublesome Creek (1941) – were all published by The Viking Press. It was not until 35 years later, after Pattern of a Man was first published, that there was revival of interest in his work.

Other books include a novel Sporty Creek; the collection of stories The Run for the Elbertas; The Wolfpen Notebooks; and a number of books for children: The Wolfpen Rusties; Way Down Yonder on Troublesome Creek; Jack and the Wonder Beans; and An Appalachian Mother Goose. His two later major collections of poems are The Wolfpen Poems and From the Mountain, From the Valley.