114 - Jacqueline Kennedy Handmade Mother Goose Book, with Coloring by Caroline and John Jr.

Jacqueline Kennedy Handmade Mother Goose Book, with Coloring by Caroline and John Jr. Homemade personalized Mother Goose book created by Jacqueline Kennedy as a gift to Joseph P. Kennedy, 28 pages, housed in 9.25 x 13 Giant Golden Book "The Golden Mother Goose" boards tied together with red ribbons. Each collage-style page carries a caption penned in the hand of Jacqueline Kennedy—offering a personal story, inside joke, or family reference—with several clipped coloring book pages attributed to Caroline Kennedy and John F. Kennedy, Jr. The title page reads: "Granpa Kennedy's Happy Talk for Little Boys and Girls Who Know What's Good For Them." Jacqueline Kennedy's handwritten captions include: - "Dad's at the Cape," beneath a colored-in bear. - "The Archbishop is Crazy about Frank Morissey," beneath two colored-in characters. - "A Mug is a Mug and Class Will Tell," beneath two pictures of dogs. - "The Girl Who Thought She Had a Contract to Drink All the Scotch in America," beneath a colored-in Daisy Duck and two clipped alcohol ads. - "The Donkey Who Couldn't Find His Way Out of a Telephone Booth," beneath a mixed-media rendering of the same. - "Don't give me any more of that Malarkey," beneath a clipping of a Bugs Bunny cartoon. - "Who Do You Think You Are—Gaby Deslys?," beneath a colored-in Minnie Mouse. - "Advice to Young Girls—Always Be Nice to Older Women, and Never Make a Play for a Married Man," beneath a fur coat ad and cat picture. - "The Thing About Jack is He's Touched by Destiny," beside a clipping of MAD Magazine mascot Alfred E. Neuman. - "When It's All Over You're Lucky If You Can Count Your Friends on Four Fingers of Your Right Hand," beneath colored-in crows. - "The Senator from Massachusetts, The Chief Counsel of the Senate Rackets Committee, 'Yes Dad, we're coming,'" beside a picture of two kittens. - "I was Flyer than any of you guys when I was fifteen years old," below a clipping of a bird and plane. In overall very good to fine condition, with damage to the last page. More than a children’s craft project, this homemade “Mother Goose” book is a remarkably intimate piece of Kennedy family satire, with Jacqueline Kennedy turning familiar cartoon and coloring-book imagery into a private running commentary on the personalities, habits, ambitions, and foibles of the Kennedy circle. The captions range from affectionate teasing to pointed political and social jokes, touching on Joseph P. Kennedy’s influence, John F. Kennedy’s perceived destiny, Robert Kennedy’s Senate work, family drinking lore, friendships, and romantic indiscretions. Created for the family patriarch, the book captures the Kennedys in an unusually unguarded register—irreverent, knowing, and deeply personal—far removed from their carefully managed public image.