Mother Goose

In literature, Mother Goose (French: Ma Mère l'Oye; German: Mutter Gans) is the archetypical countrywoman, the teller of fairy tales and nursery rhymes. No specific writer has ever been identified with the name, the first known mention of which appears in an aside in a versified chronicle of weekly happenings, that appeared regularly for several years, Jean Loret's La Muse Historique (in 1660): comme un conte de la Mere Oye ("Like a Mother Goose story").

Related Topics:
Literature - Fairy tale

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The Contes de ma mère l'Oye (Mother Goose Tales), edited in 1697 by French author Charles Perrault, is made of eight tales:

Related Topics:
1697 - French - Charles Perrault

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• La Belle au bois dormant (The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood)
• Le Petit Chaperon rouge (Little Red Riding Hood)
• Barbe Bleue (Bluebeard)
• Le Chat botté (The Master Cat; or, Puss in Boots)
• Les Fées (The Fairies)
• Cendrillon (Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper)
• Riquet à la houppe (Ricky of the Tuft)
• Le Petit Poucet (Little Thumb)

In 1765, John Newbery's Mother Goose's Melody switched the focus from fairy tales to nursery rhymes, and in English this is still the prime connotation for Mother Goose.

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French composer Maurice Ravel wrote an opus named Ma Mère l'Oye, a suite for the piano, which was then orchestrated and became a ballet.

Related Topics:
Maurice Ravel - Ma Mère l'Oye - Piano - Ballet

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The name is now used as a generic title for collections of nursery rhymes, especially ones of a previous age. It is also the name of a pantomime featuring nursery rhyme characters.

Related Topics:
Nursery rhyme - Pantomime

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Many of Perrault's Mother Goose tales were adapted for the theater or movies, especially by Walt Disney Pictures or by Jim Henson.

Related Topics:
Theater - Walt Disney Pictures - Jim Henson

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Many tourists to Boston, Massachusetts have been told that the original Mother Goose was named Elizabeth Goose and is interred at the Granary Burying Ground. This belief is considered wholly erroneous by scholars, as the individual's life postdates prior use of the term elsewhere and no evidence exists that she collected any tales into a book.

Related Topics:
Boston, Massachusetts - Granary Burying Ground

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A male companion to Mother Goose, Father Goose was a recurring character in the works of L. Frank Baum.

Related Topics:
Father Goose - L. Frank Baum

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Recently some Neopagans have claimed that Mother Goose was originally a witch or ancient goddess, but there is no evidence to support this idea.

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The world authority on the Mother Goose tradition is Iona Opie.

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The term 'Mother Goose' has been adopted as a slang term in the United Kingdom, young groups of men call each other 'Goose' or 'Mother Goose'. If an individual is referring to multiple individuals then the plural form is used 'Mother Geese' or 'Geese'.

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Roberta Williams produced the Mixed-Up Mother Goose legacy of copmputer games (now called edutainment) for young kids.

Related Topics:
Roberta Williams - Mixed-Up Mother Goose - Edutainment

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Mother Goose: See also ►