Apparently Sandberg wrote these to be American fairy tales, feeling that traditional fairy tales from Europe had too many references to things we don't have here (such as royalty). In that aim, he only partially succeeded -- these are very nice childern's stories but overall they don't resonate. I think it is because they are mostly missing the conflict between good and evil that most traditional fairy tales have. ( )

Supposedly american fairytales, although they have more semblance to Edward Lear nonsense. If they were in poetry form, or i was american or a child MAYBE these stories would be tolerable.
However i think even as a kid i would have hated this. I gave up reading at about the quarter mark but was just able to get through the rest thanks to a very good LibraVox recording. ( )

A collection of short stories from the imagination of Carl Sandburg, as told to his daughters. These are nonsense tales. You won't find any morals or lessons in them, although many are poignant and result in the hearer pondering life. They are best read aloud, slowly, turning the words over in your mouth before you speak them, for although they are prose, there is a rhythm and a cadence to the writing which delights the ear. The best example is of Sandburg himself reading them. There are a couple of recordings of that on YouTube, look it up and enjoy. ( )

Note: This review is for the audiobook version.

This is a vintage collection of interconnected, whimsical short stories by famed poet, Carl Sandburg. His aim was to create a canon of Western American folk/fairy tales. The stories are fun, but don't have a particular relevance to our times. The narrator does a fine job of creating character voices and maintaining an upbeat tempo while highlighting the poetic nature of the prose. The story "The Two Skyscrapers Who Decided to Have a Child," is the best in the bunch...not whimsical, but thought-provoking and a bit haunting.

My complete review may be found at [https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/185024/rootabaga-stories-by-carl-sandburg-read-by-zura-johnson/]

My copy of Rootabaga Stories was provided by AudioFile Magazine. ( )

2 v. ( )