Carl Sandburg constructs a vibrant, mythic American landscape known as the Rootabaga Country, where logic bends to the rhythm of children's games and old folklore. The narrative begins when Gimme the Ax and his children sell everything they own to buy a yellow leather ticket on a train heading out where the tracks run off into the sky. From there, the book introduces a gallery of unforgettable characters, including the Potato Face Blind Man who plays a gold-that-used-to-be accordion, and Blixie Bimber, whose gold buckskin whincher possesses a strange and unavoidable power.
The stories weave through bizarre and enchanting locations, from the Village of Liver-and-Onions to the Village of Cream Puffs, which blows away in the wind and must be reeled back in by a giant spool. Sandburg examines the mechanics of desire, luck, and regret through recurring motifs like secret ambitions, talking animals, and magical objects that alter the fates of ordinary workers and children. The characters frequently encounter bizarre trials, such as when Jason Squiff's hat, mittens, and shoes inexplicably turn to popcorn due to a forgotten magical charm.
A recurring strain of melancholy runs beneath the nonsense, touching on themes of loss, aging, and the passage of time. In tales like the migration of the blue foxes and flongboos to Medicine Hat, animals lose their tails in a bitter blizzard and must journey across the continent to recover them from the Head Spotter of the Weather Makers. Other stories, such as the romance of the White Horse Girl and the Blue Wind Boy, hint at a longing for distant horizons beyond the reach of everyday life.
Sandburg also explores the origins of natural phenomena and human habits through tall tales and inventive myth-making. The corn fairies weave their harvest clothes by the light of the harvest moon, while the zizzies maliciously twist the railroad tracks into zigzags just to spite the smooth engineers. Through these interconnected episodes, the collection celebrates the freedom of wandering away from predictable lives and embracing the unpredictable magic hidden in plain sight.
