illustration by graham roumieuFAIRY
TALE
WISDOM
Mother Goose answers
readers’ most pressing
questions
BY Emma Span FROM SLATE.COMDEAR MOTHER GOOSE,
My husband recently passed away
(killed by our next door neighbour,
baked into a pie and eaten) and now
my son, Peter, is acting out. He keeps
sneaking onto this neighbour’s prop-
erty and stealing his vegetables. I sent
him to bed with camomile tea.
His three sisters don’t misbehave
this way. Is it just a “Boys will be boys,”
thing or are there deeper issues here?
—Mama RabbitDEAR MAMA RABBIT,
This is a behavioural problem that
demands action far beyond chamomile
tea. Peter sounds troubled—under-
standable, given what your family’s
been through. You should consider82 april 2020
HUMOUR