Thursday, December 27, 2012

Modular Story-telling

One of the things that first surprised me when I started investigating Thornton Burgess's newspaper stories was how modular they were, each a little unit that could stand alone or be combined with other units in a variety of ways. The first Bedtime Stories books, far from being reprints of continuous narratives from the newspaper serial, were very often composites of stories originally told months, sometimes years apart. These modular stories were only lightly edited for use in the books, if at all.

This modularity reached a whole new level when it came to the Burgess books published in the 1940s. Take, for example, At the Smiling Pool, which pieced together stories originally published from 1926 to 1943, sometimes, as in the case of "Peeper's Adventures", piecing together stories from many years apart to make a single chapter, or, as in the case of "Grandfather Frog's World," switching a story out of its original order in the continuity.

Below is the complete list of At the Smiling Pool chapters and the date of their original newspaper publication.

1. The Voice of Spring [March 30, April 1, 1942]
2. Peter Stops a Chorus [April 2-3, 1937]
3. Peeper's Adventures [April 9, 1926; May 7, 1934]
4. The Happy Trio [May 8-9, 1934]
5. The Smiling Pool Philosopher [June 7-8, 1934]
6. Grandfather Frog's World [September 11, 1940; August 15, 1935]
7. Taddy the Tadpole [May 24-25, 1937]
8. Taddy Meets his Father [May 26-28, 1937]
9. The Reward of Patience [September 7 and 9, 1940]
10. Little Mr. Know-it-all [September 12-14, 1940]
11. Jerry Muskrat is Envious [August 13-14, 1935]
12. Prickly Porky Seeks a Change [August 18-19, 1942]
13. An Honorable Retreat [June 21-23, 1939]
14. An Anxious Morning [May 31 to June 1, 1934]
15. Lessons in Living [June 2-4, 1934]
16. Greedy Touslehead [June 5-6, 1934]
17. Blacky's Chagrin [August 23-24, 1940]
18. Blacky Finds a Way [August 26-27, 1940]
19. Friendly Neighbors [May 7-8, 1940]
20. Mrs. Little Friend is Upset [May 10-11, 1937]
21. Surprising Babies [May 12-13, 1937]
22. Mrs. Slippery Slim [November 15-16, 1939]
23. A Happy Farewell [November 17-18, 1939]
24. Peter Makes a New Acquaintance [May 16-17, 1929]
25. A Secret is Kept [May 22-24, 1929]
26 The Happy Family [May 25 and 27, 1929]
27. The Water Sprites [May 28 and 29, 1929]
28. A Matter of Opinion [September 16 and 17, 1943]


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