Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Possum That Didn't [Book Review]

"The Possum That Didn't" is a short children's book written and illustrated by Frank Tashlin. It was published in 1950. It is kind of a sequel to "The Bear That Wasn't." I actually stumbled over this one. I didn't know there was another book like that, and as soon as I realized it existed... I bought and read it.

Honestly, I think Frank Tashlin may be my favorite young children's author. I was mystified at how well "The Bear That Wasn't" was able to communicate certain problems with humanity to both children and adults. I really hoped that its successor would be more of the same.

It was.

"The Possum That Didn't" is built upon a very simple visual illusion or gag. It is the perception that a smile turned upside down looks more like a frown. The possum of this story likes to smile, but he also likes to hang upside down by his tail. When humans find him hanging there, they are flabbergasted that the poor creature is frowning. When the possum tries to explain to these random people that he is actually smiling, they call him stupid and relentlessly uproot his life in order to try and force a smile out of him.

Without going into further spoilers, the story was written to point out how many people can be busy bodies. They tend to obsessively try and fix other people as if they have the right or necessity to do so. And it's never about the person they are trying to help; it's more about building themselves up artificially as a ethical and moral animal. I know firsthand how this works, because I've caught myself doing the same thing. It sucks.

I'm just going to say this: This book is every bit as good as "The Bear That Wasn't." It really is. I loved it about equally as much, because it dealt with a different human problem in a new and clever way. It was both similar and fresh at the same time. Brilliant.

This book is easy to find, and it is also very cheap. I recommend it. I should also say that his illustrations in this one were very good, as good as the ones in the former book. The only downside is that there is one more of these books called "The World That Isn't," and it is horribly out of print and unfindable for a reasonable amount of money. If I can get my hands on it, I will read and review it. I am now entirely interested in reading this man's entire body of literature (which is only three books.)

This blog was written on September 21, 2024.

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