Shivers and Shudders the Land . . .

The Prince of Pompadoodle is toot toot tootling even in our day.

And You, You're Aces to Me, Jus' Aces

We can't post A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go without following up with The Account of the Wooful Frog. This is one of Kelly's sweetest little morsels of a story, as fun to me now as when I was 10. The little turtle tad is one of Kelly's many high-water marks for characterization.

Walt Kelly — The Wooful Frog — 1955

Our Retread Prince, Jack Acid

I would be remiss to not follow the last post on The Prince of Pompadoodle with this Pompadoodlish fairy tale. The drawing of the castle/fortress is delicious and the next to last page is tasty as well. Well, the whole tale is a buffet of delight, all about communists and fascists and nazis, oh, and chimps. If only I understood it.

The Prince of Pompadoodle

When I talked with Walt Kelly all those many years ago, a subject that echoes clearly in my mind was his emphasis on the importance of fairy tales to burgeoning minds. With a twinkle in his eye, he bade me to never forsake the tales, as most adults tend to do. He talked of the tales as wonderment that sought to reveal knowledge of the ways of humankind.

Fairy tales may be described in any number of ways*, and by any definition, Walt Kelly's life work was essentially one long fairy tale—including the day to day fables and stories of Pogo and the swampland characters, and of course the Adventures of Peter Wheat, and the scores of traditional fairy tales in his whirled of comic books.

There were times, as below, that he merged his whirleds in an effort to teach us something.

Indeed—Kelly's style, point of view and sense of humor tied all of his work together in a whirled of wonderment that sought to reveal the ways of humankind.

* Think of Kelly as you read of the essence of fairy tales here.