A few years ago I came across two of Frank Gelett Burgess’ books about the Goops at a small and wonderful library sale in Sherman, CT. I wanted to share with you Goop Tales because it is hilarious! It’s the 1973 Dover edition of the “unbridged and unaltered” original, published in 1904 by Frederick A Stokes Company. I can’t believe how current these old Goops seem! So what is a Goop, and more importantly are YOU one? Basically they are symbols of human faults. Each Goop is lovable but with one flaw which is how one gets its name. They are elaborately dressed, have giant circle heads, to remind you they are childlike, and are cute but with a tiny pinch of creepy!Each page spread contains a short scene on the left with the named Goop showing how they got there name, and on the right is a bigger drawing of the Goop with a poem and a parenthetical explanation just in case you aren’t absolutely sure why they are named that way.  Each one made me chuckle and reminds me of being little and playing with a big group of kids and all the different personalities that came out during a game!  I’m posting a few favorites here but there are so many more in the book.

Though there are several Goops I can relate to, I’m probably closest to Askalotte (if you haven’t guessed, she asks a lot of “needless questions”). I just can’t help it, I have so many questions!

So, which Goop are you?