For the deluxe 1936 edition, Duvoisin created exuberant illustrations that framed, punctuated, and romped through and around the text. His Mother Goose characters weave a celebratory dance back and forth, overflowing the expanse used for the end papers and the background of the dust jacket, which herald a book brimming with visual energy. The fact that Duvoisin's exuberant treatment of the venerable Mother Goose was both popular and controversial was noted by children's book illustration critic and historian Barbara Bader in her influential critical history, American Picture Books from Noah's Ark to the Beast Within, 1976.
Mother Goose: A Comprehensive Collection of the Rhymes.
Edited by William Rose Benét.
New York: The Heritage Press, 1936
Illustration for the dust jacket and end papers
Gouache, ink, and collage on paper
13 ½ x 21 ¼ inches
Gift of Louise Fatio Duvoisin
1989.0027.001
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