What's More American than a Hippopotamus?

Baum's "American Fairy Tales" is an editor's nightmare.  They hardly seem aimed at the same readers.  Some are clearly kiddie stories, and some are clearly not.  More head-scratchingly, three of the "American" stories don't even take place in America.  Seriously -- there's a fairy tale about a hippopotamus, without a single mention of America.  And two others also set in magical kingdoms.  My guess (and I'm only guessing here) is that Baum had three stories laying around and he just stuck 'em in here because of a deadline, or something.

So when Jordan asked me to cook up some artwork to represent the collection, I'm just scratchin' my head.  A hippo wrapped in the Stars and Stripes?  That probably looks too kiddie-like for the adult stories in the collection.

Still...I gotta see what Midjourney would do with that prompt, right?

Love it, actually.  But it doesn't set you up for an adult book.  So...er....what would?  Wrack, wrack, wrack.  In one of the stories, a goblin-y character visits an American City (probably Boston?), and gets all wigged out by the hustle and bustle.  I kinda like where that's headed:

But I think it needs more whimsy, and more color, and something more American.  So I'm working on the idea of a goblin-y character with a slightly wicked look, and the flag.  Along these lines:

(BTW, What's with the Jno...?  Was that a thing back in the day?)