What Makes a Mother Goose a Mother Goose?

Flocks and Families: Mother Goose as Nurturer

Although Mother Goose is almost never pictured as a young mother, she is sometimes illustrated as a young child, particularly in books for the youngest reader of pictures. Most frequently she is portrayed as a grandmotherly figure nurturing the young. Seldom is she seen with adult figures, either animal or human, reminding us of the audience for the tales she represents.

In the first two images, we see Mother Goose as a young girl. The daring and athletic Mother Goose that follows is one of the few that could be a young mother.

Examine the remaining images to see the various ways artists have portrayed Mother Goose as a nurturer or mother figure. Often Mother Goose as goose has outspread wings lovingly encompassing the young, or she has protectively placed herself between her goslings and potential threats from the outside world. In a copy of the oldest illustration here, she is watching over a baby gosling in a cradle. Even sleeping against a tree, Mother Goose seems to be cushioning and giving comfort to her rooster companion. In the final image below an old Mother Goose is taking a baby in a basket on a joy ride through the sky.