GUEST BLOGGER LORI MORTENSEN
I was reminded of Edward Gorey one day while I was out on my morning walk and happened to catch a podcast about him on “Stuff You Missed in History Class.” As I listened, his name and dark, silly style reminded me of a book from my childhood. When I arrived home, I found the book I’d been thinking of—THE MAN WHO SANG THE SILLIES. It was a collection of odd poems written by John Ciardi and illustrated by Edward Gorey—and I knew I wanted to write a picture book biography about him for young readers. The result was Nonsense! The Curious Story of Edward Gorey, illustrated by Chloe Bristol, published by HarperCollins.
Instead of following the crowd, Gorey did things his own way, writing and illustrating strange, silly stories with peculiar titles such as The Abandoned Sock, The Galoshes of Remorse, and The Gashlycrumb Tinies. When others rejected his work, he published them himself.
In this lesson students will use some of Gorey’s most familiar story elements to create their own stories full of Gorey’s silly, literary nonsense.
1 – Read, examine, collect
Many of Gorey’s stories centered around odd characters or objects such as penguins, hats, scarves, bicycles, and umbrellas that captured the imagination of readers around the world.
To collect characters or objects for students to write about, read the book to the class and ask students to examine the text and illustrations.
Write down their observations on the board. List them under two categories: Characters and Objects (see sample below). Ask the students to choose three words, using both categories.
| Characters | Objects |
|---|---|
2 – Three words
Have students write a short story based on the three words they’ve chosen. Why did they choose those words? Would they like to trade one word for a different one? What sort of story ideas do they get from the words they’ve chosen?
Edward Gorey’s titles were as odd and curious as his stories, such as The Abandoned Sock, The Unstrung Harp, The Wuggly Ump, The Doubtful Guest, and many others. Once students complete their stories, ask them to jot down several curious titles, then choose one to accompany their stories.
3 – Amazing anagrams
Edward Gorey published over 100 books. But instead of publishing them with his real name, EDWARD GOREY, he often mixed up the letters of his name in anagrams, making silly new names such as Odgred Weary, E. G. Deadworry, Roy Grewdead, and Drew Dogyear.
Ask students to create anagrams using the letters in their own names. You’ll need:
- Paper
- Pencils
- Scissors
Ask students write down the letters of their name, then cut the letters out so they can rearrange them into different author names.
How many names can they come up with? Which one would they like to use for their own story? (Rose N. Tornmile, Merlin Noserot, and Smirn Treeloon are just a few of the anagrams I created using the letters in my name, Lori Mortensen.)
Share and discuss the stories using the anagram names. How many stories used the same words? What did the students like about them? What was the oddest character or title?
Additional resources
Download the Teacher’s Guide for Nonsense! The Curious Story of Edward Gorey
Lori Mortensen is an award-winning children’s author of more than 100 books. Her books, which reviewers have praised as “stellar” “as good as it gets” and “begs to be read aloud,” have been published by such notable publishers as HarperCollins, Henry Holt, Abrams, Bloomsbury, and Peachtree. Popular releases include Nonsense! The Curious Story of Edward Gorey, Away with Words: The Daring True Story of Explorer Isabella Bird, Arlo Draws an Octopus, illustrated by NYT bestselling author/illustrator Rob Sayegh, Jr., If Wendell Had a Walrus, illustrated by NYT bestselling author/illustrator Matt Phelan, and Cowpoke Clyde Rides the Range, a Bill Martin Jr., Picture Book Award Nominee and the sequel to Amazon bestseller Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg.
When she’s not greeting geese at the lake, or putting her nose in a mystery, she’s tapping away at her keyboard, conjuring, coaxing, and prodding her latest stories to life. Today, she lives in the foothills of Northern California with her family and all birds that flock to her feeder—including a daredevil squirrel. To find out more about upcoming releases, teacher activities, news, and more, visit her website at www.lorimortensen.com.
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