From a press release issued in November, 1993, by Meadowbrook Press of Deephaven, Minnesota, to promote The New Adventures of Mother Goose, a book of "alternative" Mother Goose rhymes by Bruce Lansky. According to the press release, Lansky undertook the revisions because the traditional versions are "mean-spirited, sexist, and violent":

TRADITIONAL MOTHER GOOSE VERSION

Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater
Had a wife and couldn't keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin
And there he kept her very well.

Message: It's all right for husbands to control their wives.

NEW ADVENTURES OF MOTHER GOOSE VERSION

Peter, Peter, sugar eater,
always wanted food much sweeter.
Adding sugar was a blunder—
now he is a toothless wonder.

TRADITIONAL MOTHER GOOSE VERSION

Georgie Porgie, puddin' and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry.
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away.

Message: Boys will be boys. Teasing girls is okay. What girls want doesn't matter.

NEW ADVENTURES OF MOTHER GOOSE VERSION

Georgie Porgie, what a shame
kids call you such a silly name
Now, I think you know it's true
that teasing isn't nice to do.

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