Possum Child Goes Shopping by Mercer Mayer and an Introduction to His Panorama Books.

Possum Child Goes Shopping by Mercer Mayer

ISBN: 0-590-32806-9

Well, it is a brand new year.  I am going to start it out by featuring Mercer Mayer’s Panoramic Board Book series featuring Little Critter and the Critter Kids.  This series of books came out from Scholastic in 1983 for $2.95 a pop.  Two of the books weren’t re-released and two were re-named (just to confuse us kiddos) for paperback and hardcover releases.  Note for collectors: If you are looking for the Panorama versions of these books they all start with ISBN “0-590-328.” 

The books in the Panorama version of this series are:

Possum Child Goes Shopping (never re-released)

Gator Cleans House

Malcom’s Race (never re-released)

Sweetmeat’s Birthday (later renamed Bun Bun’s Birthday)

Too’s Bracelet (later renamed Little Sister’s Bracelet)

Bat Child’s Haunted House

Each book is thick cardboard (like a Board Book, but maybe a touch thinner) and has a folded accordion/Panoramic style.  When fully opened, the book is over four feet long (for a little over eight feet of fun art and story). Each book is 8 double sided panels long (16 panels total).  This ends up being about 13 pages of story (6 pages on one side, 7 on the other), a cover page, a back page featuring all of the Critter Kids, and a removable page featuring four of the Critter Kids (“collect all 16!”…one card features two of the 17 characters: Maurice & Molly).  

The seventeen Critter Kids are:

Little Critter: a critter

Too (name eventually changed to Little Sister…naming a character an adverb is just confusing): a critter, Little Critter’s little sister

Sweetmeat (name eventually changed to Bun Bun…look up “sweetmeat” and you’ll see why): a rabbit

Frud (name eventually changed to Frog…what was wrong with "Frud"?): a frog

Weenie (name eventually changed to Mouse… we wouldn’t want a character named “Weenie” in a book, would we?): a mouse

Muso (name eventually changed to Mooso…possibly so people would pronounce it correctly…it probably didn’t help…also “muso” means mouse in some languages): a panda

Skat Owl (no name changes for this guy, even though his name sounds like “scat”…look it up): an owl

Malcom: a tiger (or a tiger-striped cat)

Max: a koala

Huggums: a raccoon

Gator: an alligator

Bat Child: a bat

Oscar: an otter

Seaweed: a skunk

Maurice: a mole

Molly: a mole, Maurice’s sister

Possum Child: a possum

The versions of these books that were re-released by Random House / B. Dalton Booksellers, Inc. / Green Frog Publishers Inc. (in association with John R. Sansevere) had some changes made and most came with a disclaimer on the copyright page, “Originally published in a different format by Scholastic Inc., in 1983.”  Some of the re-releases have what looks like extra pages in them… some of which were borrowed from other books in the series.

Today’s book is one of the ones that wasn’t re-released (as far as I know).  Possum Child Goes Shopping. It seems to be very rare and it took me a few years to find a decent ex-library copy.   It comes with four Critter cards: Possum Child, Oscar, Little Critter, and Huggums.

The story:  Possum Child goes shopping for a new red bow for her head.  Before she’s able to leave she gets bombarded with requests from her friends to pick up some things for them.  As she shops she rhymes her grocery list, “For Huggums, lots of nuts and fruit. Gator needs a bathing suit.”  She isn't mad that her friends asked for these things, and she even seems happy to do it.  BUT, she does end up forgetting to buy her red bow.

Sadly, this particular book doesn’t take advantage of the Panorama publication style.  Some of the pictures are two-panels long, but most are single panel.  The shopping motif could have easily leant itself to showing a whole one-stop-shopping center with Possum Child in the different sections with a touch of bleed-over from picture to picture.  As to why this book didn't get re-released... I have no idea.  Kids love to play "shopping," and the book is fun, short, and sweet.  Maybe there is a low demographic for "possom"-related children's fiction?

Being picky: In the story, Possum Child buys some cheese for Weenie the mouse (per Weenie’s order), but she never delivers it to Weenie in the story (everyone else is shown getting what they wanted).  The jacks don't get delivered either, but Max got a bunny on top of that gift (Possum Child got him two things).  Also, Malcom, Too/Little Sister, Sweetmeat/Bun Bun, Skat Owl, Bat Child, and Frud are not in this book at all.

That’s all for this one.  Goodnight, sleep tight, and don’t let the Zipperump-a-zoos bite!

"Gwot! Horribly Funny Hairticklers" by George Mendoza: One of Steven Kellogg's First Illustrated Books!

GWOT! Horribly Funny Hairticklers

Author: George Mendoza


Illustrator: Steven Kellogg


1967, Harper & Row, Publishers

One of the first books I remember my mom reading to me was GWOT!  Horribly funny hairticklers by George Mendoza and illustrated by Steven Kellogg, and so that is the book that I want to share with you wonderful readers today (I found it in a library sale)!

Most of us are aware of Steven Kellogg.  He is an excellent illustrator and story teller.  He is well known for the Pinkerton series of books.  My personal favorite by him is Much Bigger Than Martin (I had a big brother).  George Mendoza on the other hand is an odd duck, and that is why I blogged about him yesterday.

GWOT! was George Mendoza’s “first book for children” per the dust jacket.  This might be Steven Kellogg’s second illustrated book.  The dust jacket states that Steven Kellogg had also illustrated Mary Rodgers’ The Rotten Book, but the earliest year I can find online for that book is 1969... so GWOT! may be his first published work in book form.  But to be honest, It is really unknown to me which book came out first.

This book consists of three stories, “The Snake,” “The Hairy Toe,” and “The Hunter” (plus an unnamed three panel bonus wordless story). All have scary aspects. Although, when I read them to my then five-year-old last year, he just looked at me and said, “Was that supposed to be scary?” Of course, he was scared during the stories. I could tell. He was just trying to be brave...I think.

THE HAIRY TOE:

Ants and a hairy severed toe!

Maybe the reason this books sticks in my mind is my mother’s wonderful reading of “The Hairy Toe” story. My mother was a 2nd grade teacher and she could read a book aloud like no other. You may be familiar with this classic “jump story” because it has been re-told many times. Usually about a bone or “tailypo” or something that is dug up by an older person or a “teeny tiny” woman. They take it home and hide it or put it on their night stand or under their pillow. That night while they are in bed a ghostly voice starts softly asking for their item back. “Who’s got my bone / nasty underwear / whatever” Louder and louder… closer and closer…until the creature / ghost / zombie / whatever bursts in and says “You’ve got it!” or something like that. I’ve scared the bejeezus out of my nephews during a campfire story telling of this type of story. The version of this type of story, things are changed around a little.




In this case it is a hairy toe that is found by an old gnarled woman while digging up potatoes and picking beans. When she finds the toe, she exclaims, “Gwot!” In fact, “Gwot,” is all she says for most of the story. She takes home the toe, beans, and spuds and cooks them all up (yes, all)… and she EATS THE HAIRY TOE!

Mmm, hairy toe soup, my favorite!

“Nasty!” as my son said at this part and I agree whole heartedly. That night, sure enough, while she’s in bed she hears, “Who’s got my hair-r-ry to-o-o-e-e?” Over and over… louder and louder… (the tension is well built up for four pages)… until “…the old woman bolted up in her bed screeching – GWOT! I ATE IT!”

"GWOT! I ATE IT"

THE WORDLESS STORY:

The wordless (except for some signs) and untitled story involves a girl who has some creatures (bats, a snake, and a huge vulture-like bird) on the outside of her house.   She tries to scare them away with a broom, but ends up getting carried away… literally, by the vulture-like bird to a fate unknown.

THE SNAKE:

That thar is a snake

The story, “The Snake” involves a man who runs into a large snake on his property, and he chops its head off.  The next day his chickens are missing and he runs into a bigger snake and slices its head off.  Over and over this happens with bigger and bigger animals missing and a bigger and bigger (presumably the same) snake getting its head lopped off…  Until one day, the farmer runs into a snake that is bigger than most of his farm (and that just ate his horse!), and the farmer runs away and locks himself up in his farm forever.   In a way this is anti-climatic, but you can’t just have the snake bite the farmer’s head off to show him how it feels in a children’s book.  Hee hee hee.

Holeee crub!

THE HUNTER:


"The Hunter" has the best illustrations in the book.  The story is about a "fierce" hunter name Humber and his three hounds, Sniffem, Chasem, and Catchem.  The hounds are great at tracking and cornering live prey... but the prey isn't always ferocious...

Poor teddy

This sometimes frustrates the hunter.  Then the hunter discovers the HUGE footprints of the Gumberoo! He makes sure the dogs have the scent of the Gumberoo and nothing else, and the dogs go for it.  They track for many hours, well into the night.  Humbert sits to reast and BOOM the Gumberoo literally runs him over...

Gumberoo squish mighty hunter

getting its smelly oily fur all over the hunter... uh oh.  Needless to say, the dogs smell the hunter and and he is chased until who knows what end.




And that is all the stories in this awesome little tome of scary/funny stories.  I hope you can find it and love it.   Oh, and a fun fact before you go.  George Mendoza wrote another book featuring the Gumberoo called The Hunter, the Tick, and the Gumberoo (illustrated by Philip Wende)... but it isn't recommended for kids because (from what I understand) the hunter in that book ends up incedently committing suicide (by blowing his head...off).  I'd like to see this other "Gumberoo" book someday and I hope to.




In 1989 a part 2, sort of, to this book was released. It was simply titled Hairticklers and it was illustrated by the multi-talented Gahan Wilson. It has 13 more "scary" stories to make your kids squirm.

 
So, goodnight, sleep tight, and don't let the Zipperump-a-Zoos bite... and don't let the Gumberoo step on you either!