The Vege-Men's Revenge by Bertha Upton

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What a strange rhyming book this is! 

Each page is delightfully illustrated by Bertha Upton's daughter, Florence K. Upton, best-known for the series of Golliwoggbooks. In 1897, having had two Golliwogg books published, the Uptons decided to try something different with The Vege-Men's Revenge.

The story is about a little girl named Poppy who is sent by her mother to collect vegetables in her basket. The book is in three parts and in the first part Poppy meets Herr Carrot and Don Tomato who entice her with 'fair words' to come and see how they grow underground.

"If soup-greens you want in that basket so neat, 
We can furnish the best you could e'er wish to eat, 
And the secret you'll know 
As to how we all grow 
In our cool pleasant underground world O!"

Poppy seats herself in a nearby coach which is drawn by six young onions and escorted by Herr Carrot and Don Tomato. The illustration shows the coach to be made from a cut out pumpkin with mushroom wheels. At first she enjoys the ride but when they arrive at a large hole in the ground into which she must follow Don Tomato with Herr Carrot taking her hand, she begins to have misgivings which were too soon well-founded: 

"Herr Carrot spoke crossly-'Look here little one, 
We mean you to suffer for all you have done! 
To our king you must go, 
He awaits you below, 
We will soon take you into his Court O!'"

In the second part Poppy meets the King of the Vege-Men's land. The King has very firm ideas of the importance of his people and how without them Poppy would starve, and yet, he grumbles, she never thinks twice about the Torture that is inflicted upon the vegetables she consumes! The punishment he orders is for Poppy to be planted!

"So now on you the tables we will turn 
And see how you will like to boil or burn. 
What ho! My guards in modest livery tight, 
Go! Plant this child and cultivate her right. 
I want to know 
How mortals grow 
'Twill be a novel sight."

Poppy fearfully wonders at their lack of heart at such a cruel sentence but a kindly voice - a cabbage with a heart - whispers some words of comfort:-

"Tis not so deep- 
And once asleep 
You'll better think of it."

Poppy then surprises the guards who come with rope to 'bind and take her' - she doesn't flinch one bit and even blows them some kisses as she jumps into the hole in the ground prepared for her. Poppy is lovingly tended and she begins to grow. A surreal illustration shows her sitting underground, her hands clasped around her drawn up knees, looking quite peaceful, but with roots and stems coming from her, reaching down into the earth and up to the sky! There is much joy when the first two leaves appear above ground and rapidly spread producing "Poppy-growths of every shape and sort". Included in this varied harvest are peas, potatoes, cabbages and corn, all quickly picked and taken to the kitchens, where such fine variety must tax the skill of the chef. There the little Poppy vegetables are boiled and fried, chopped and sliced and taken out to the king's feast.

One of the waiters causes a stir:

"In his apron he had failed to mend the rent, 
His long foot caught and down of course he went"

The rest of the dishes arrive safely to the table where many a vegetable sits eating different Poppy dishes and the feast is followed by music and dance.

As the vegetables circle around, the colours in the illustrations blur, and then, reminiscent of the pack of cards scene in Alice In Wonderland, the vegetable guests are shown falling through the air "And total darkness quickly covers all."

The third part of the book, again reminiscent of Alice, shows Poppy awaking from her dream. There is a small sepia illustration of Herr Carrot running away and then on the next page, he is shown falling to his knees with tear streaked eyes and pleading hands as Poppy says:

"Ah! There you all are! Safe enough I declare! 
Such innocent things to give me such a scare; 
I was sent out to pull 
A big basket full, 
And I s'p'ose now you think I won't dare!"

The book ends with Poppy taking the laden basket home to her mother and vowing to tell of the 'queer dream that so true did seem'. I wonder how children today would react to this peculiar story - possibly they would be put off eating vegetables for life! But perhaps, when this was written in 1897, children were made of sterner stuff - or could they have been dreaming such weird dreams as a result of indigestion...?

While the Golliwogg books are the best-loved of the Upton 's creations, this book, along with the other lesser-known works, deserves a place in any collection of Florence Upton's illustrations.

Other books written by Bertha Upton and illustrated by Florence K. Upton:

The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls 
The Golliwogg's Bicycle Club 
The Golliwogg at the Sea-Side 
The Golliwogg's in War 
The Golliwogg's Polar Adventure 
The Golliwogg's "Auto-Go-Cart"
The Golliwogg's Air-Ship 
The Golliwogg's Circus 
The Golliwogg's in Holland 
The Golliwogg's Fox Hunt 
The Golliwogg's Desert Island 
The Golliwogg's Christmas 
Golliwogg in the African Jungle 
Pax and Carlino written by Ernst Beckman 
Little Hearts 
Adventures of Borbee and the Wisp written & illustrated by Florence Upton

Contributed by Rosemary Davis

(Published 17th Dec 2014)