Rootabaga Stories

In Short

This collection of short stories creates a unique American mythology for children and adults alike. By trading traditional European castles and dragons for skyscrapers, popcorn-making magic, and the eccentricities of small-town life, these tales explore a world where the surreal is commonplace. Characters wander into the "Rootabaga Country," a place defined by its own strange geography and logic. The book has endured because its inventive language and gentle, surreal humor provide a timeless, whimsical escape that respects the boundless imagination of the reader.

The Story

The journey begins in the everyday world, where a father named Gimme the Ax decides to sell everything he owns—his house, his land, and his tools—to leave the known world behind. He takes his two children, Please Gimme and Ax Me No Questions, to the Rootabaga Country. They travel on a "Zigzag Railroad," a train where passengers must go "over or under" because nobody ever gets out of the way. Their arrival in this new land sets the tone for a series of encounters with the surreal.

In the Rootabaga Country, reality operates on different principles. The group passes through the Village of Cream Puffs, where the sky is filled with floating, edible balloons, and visits cities where circus clowns are baked in ovens like dolls. The narrative arc is not a single linear plot but a series of interconnected vignettes. Characters such as the Potato Face Blind Man, who plays a gold accordion to capture the sounds of nature, offer wisdom that bridges the gap between the mundane and the magical. We meet Blixie Bimber, who accidentally discovers the powerful, irresistible influence of a gold buckskin whincher, and witness the wedding procession of a Rag Doll and a Broom Handle, a parade filled with "Dirty Bibs," "Clean Ears," and "Musical Soup Eaters."

The stories follow a rhythm of movement and discovery. Young adventurers, like the White Horse Girl and the Blue Wind Boy, eventually feel the pull to leave their homes, following a mysterious, internal calling toward where the white horses come from and where the blue winds begin. There are moments of quiet reflection, such as when Fire the Goat and Flim the Goose sleep on a sand flat beneath the stars, observing the "mist people" as they weave silver and gold pictures in the air.

Throughout, the narrative explores the nature of ambition, memory, and loss. A rich man builds a skyscraper to ensure he will be remembered, while others find contentment in the simplest tasks. We see the consequences of human frailty, as when Bimbo the Snip finds his thumb stuck to his nose after wiggling his fingers at passersby, only to learn a lesson in humility. The book concludes with broad, fantastical journeys—such as a Committee of Sixty Six made of foxes and flongboos traveling by train to Medicine Hat to reclaim their lost tails from the Head Spotter of the Weather Makers. It is a world where the end is rarely a final stop, but rather a transition into another, equally strange beginning.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins Gimme the Ax sells his possessions and departs with his children on a train that requires passengers to navigate the "Over and Under" country. This departure marks a definitive break from the constraints of ordinary, predictable life.

The landscapes of nonsense The travelers move through villages where balloons are harvested like crops and clowns are crafted as if they were bread. These settings establish a world where the physical laws of nature are replaced by the laws of imagination.

The power of objects Characters interact with artifacts like the gold buckskin whincher or a dollar watch that transforms into a dragon fly ship. These objects act as catalysts, forcing the people who hold them to confront new desires or unexpected destinies.

The call of the unknown Figures like the White Horse Girl and the Blue Wind Boy eventually leave their familiar prairies to pursue the source of the elements themselves. Their departure highlights a recurring theme of searching for the origins of beauty and spirit.

The resolution of the fantastical The final narratives, involving animals and weather-makers, elevate the stakes to a cosmic level. The stories resolve not by settling into stillness, but by suggesting that the world is always shifting and that the "fire-born" will always find their way.

The People

Gimme the Ax serves as the catalyst for the entire journey, a man who chooses to relinquish his material anchors to offer his children a life of open-ended possibility. He is a seeker of the "Rootabaga Country," acting as a guide who understands that the only way to find something new is to stop holding onto the old.

The Potato Face Blind Man acts as the philosophical anchor of the villages. He wants to be remembered, yet he finds his joy in the "sleepy song of the long wind" and the small, rhythmic pleasures of a spring morning. He is a master of perspective, able to see that a change of season is "sad and not sad."

Blixie Bimber represents the human vulnerability to external forces. When she finds the gold buckskin whincher, she becomes a puppet to its "power." She stands in the way of her own autonomy, yet her journey reveals how people are often guided by forces—be they social pressures or deep, mysterious impulses—that they struggle to name or control.

The White Horse Girl and the Blue Wind Boy are the ultimate wanderers. They possess a quiet, internal drive that makes their departure inevitable. They do not want to change their world; they want to go to where their world originates. They end as enigmas, having successfully stepped beyond the boundaries of their community to become part of the myth itself.

In Its Own Voice

"Not even the Kings of Egypt with all their climbing camels, and all their speedy, spotted, lucky lizards, ever had a ride like this," he said to his children.

Gimme the Ax describes the singular, wondrous experience of riding the zigzag train into the Rootabaga Country.

"The freckles are put on," answered Wing Tip the Spick. "When a girl goes away from the Village of Cream Puffs her mother puts on two freckles, on the chin."

Wing Tip the Spick explains the mark of origin that reminds wanderers of the sweetness they have left behind.

"If you have a Q in your name, be careful if you ever come across a gold buckskin whincher."

The narrator offers a playful, cautionary piece of advice regarding the unpredictable nature of magical objects.

What It's Really About

At its core, this book is an exploration of the American spirit—a restless, inventive impulse that rejects static existence. It argues that there is a "Rootabaga Country" hidden within the geography of the heart, accessible only to those willing to leave their old, rigid ways behind. It examines the tension between the desire to be remembered and the peace found in anonymity. By replacing traditional European fairy tale tropes with American images—cornfields, skyscrapers, and ragmen—it asks whether we can find enchantment in our own backyard. It suggests that identity is not fixed; we are all like the characters in these stories, constantly being reshaped by the "winds" of experience, the "powers" of our attachments, and the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of our journey.

Why Read It Today

Readers who love the intersection of linguistic play and surrealism will find this book deeply rewarding. Reading it feels like walking through a dream where the logic is strange but the emotions are entirely familiar. The prose is rhythmic and musical, reflecting the author’s background as a poet; it is meant to be read aloud, with sentences that tumble and loop like the "zigzag" trains they describe.

However, a modern reader should be prepared for the book's specific tone. It is a product of 1922, and while its themes of curiosity and wonder are universal, some of its period attitudes and the occasionally dense, idiosyncratic dialect may feel jarring. It does not follow a traditional narrative structure; it is not a "page-turner" in the conventional sense, but rather a collection to be savored in small, rhythmic doses. You will encounter characters who seem to disappear into the sky or vanish into the wind, and you are expected to accept this without the need for a neat, clinical explanation. If you are looking for a story that demands you put aside your adult cynicism and view the world as a place of endless, shimmering possibility, this book will leave you with a sense of lingering, light-hearted mystery.