Father Goose: His Book
First edition
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| Author | L. Frank Baum |
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| Illustrator | W. W. Denslow |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's literature Humor, Fantasy |
| Publisher | George M. Hill Company |
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Publication date
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1899 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 106 pp. |
Father Goose: His Book is a collection of nonsense poetry for children, written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow, and first published in 1899. Though generally neglected a century later, the book was a groundbreaking sensation in its own era; "once America's best-selling children's book and L. Frank Baum's first success,"Father Goose laid a foundation for the writing career that soon led to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and all of Baum's later work.
The book grew out of Baum's first published verse collection, the previous year's By the Candelabra's Glare, which concluded with a section of poems for children. Baum expanded upon that section to create a new collection of nonsense verse; the 72 poems in Father Goose included two from the earlier book. Denslow had contributed two illustrations to Baum's first collection of poems, and had worked on Baum's trade periodical, The Show Window — though Father Goose was the two men's first sustained collaborative project. It was notable as a generally equal collaboration: Denslow sometimes drew pictures to Baum's poems, but Baum sometimes wrote or revised his verse in response to Denslow's drawings. Most commentators agree that Denslow's pictures outmatch Baum's texts; Denslow's illustrations for Father Goose have been considered his best work.
"Denslow's picture are both stylish and humorous. Moreover, he did not merely draw illustrations for the verse; he arranged pictures, color, and text to make an artistically unified page, so that the book resembled 'a series of art posters bound together.'" The result "is more Denslow's than Baum's book, for the art dominates and at times overpowers the text." (Denslow appreciated the quality of his own work; in a portent of future trouble between the two collaborators, he drafted a cover for the book with his own name in larger letters than Baum's. Denslow had to be talked into re-doing the cover with greater equality.)
When the two men sought out a publisher for their book, they settled with the George M. Hill Co. In uniting Baum, Denslow, and Hill, Father Goose mustered the forces that would produce The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the following year. Hill, however, was not prepared to risk much money on the two untried collaborators; their original deal required Baum and Denslow to pay for the full costs of printing the book. Subsequently, Hill invested some funds in the project: Baum and Denslow paid for all the artistic aspects of the book, including printing the color plates and cover and even the advertising, while Hill took responsibility for the paper, binding, and distribution costs.
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