Chatterbox: Blab About Books

In the first in a series, we shall shed light on Mister Yoop: A high-tempered giant from The Patchwork Girl of Oz.

Public domain: Picture credit to John R. Neill.

Mister Yoop is a giant. The contents of the sign outside the cave in which he is caged pretty much sums it up. From The Patchwork Girl of Oz:

"In one of the rock walls--that at their left-- was hollowed a great cavern, in front of which was a row of thick iron bars, the tops and bottoms being firmly fixed in the solid rock. Over this cavern was a big sign, which Dorothy read with much curiosity, speaking the words aloud that all might know what they said:

'MISTER YOOP--HIS CAVE

The
Largest Untamed Giant in Captivity.

Height, 21 Feet.--(And yet
he has but 2 feet.)

Weight, 1640 Pounds.--(But
he waits all the time.)  

Age, 400 Years 'and Up' (as
they say in the Department Store advertisements).

Temper, Fierce and Ferocious.--(Except
when asleep.)

Appetite, Ravenous.--(Prefers Meat People
and Orange Marmalade.)   

STRANGERS APPROACHING THIS CAVE DO SO AT THEIR OWN PERIL!

 P. S.--Don't feed the Giant yourself.'" 

The giant has a wife named Mrs. Yoop, who appears in The Tin Woodman of Oz. She is a Yookoohoo magician and a Master of Transformations and lives in Yoop Castle. 

On next week's Oz Character Spotlight: Bungle, The Glass Cat.