MRS. L. writes:

Blanche Fisher Wright’s work is instantly recognizable to anyone who has ever read The Real Mother Goose, originally published in 1916. In the style of Art Nouveau (think the romantic pieces by Alphonse Mucha), her work beautifully accompanied classic rhymes with imagery of regal faces and poster-like compositions (not to mention her flair for suggesting motion).

I saw her work as a child of the 80s and serenely studied each image after reading its accompanying rhyme – today I have the same book for my little ones (the illustrations enchant boys and girls alike). It’s a central part of our home library. The witchiness on the cover of a later edition of the book bothered me a bit (I prefer my Mother Goose to have a bonnet). What was in the book made up for it; particularly the modest beauty of the women.

Imagine my surprise when I found that our local public library had a small, condensed board book version of some of the same rhymes and images (sort of) published in 2000.

Welp. See below how the enlightened 21st century graphic artists correct the non-inclusive work of what was clearly a white supremacist old bat.

By my calculation, the copyright on those illustrations should hold until 2036. Given that Wright had one (adopted) child who became an illustrator himself for, among other bosses, Scholastic Inc., I wouldn’t be surprised if his descendants were strong-armed at some point by some check-signer into approving this project. (A scant glance at their website shows a great solidarity with Black Lives Matter)

Remember, facts are racist.

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