Weird Children's Books

Munro Leaf - Wee Gillis (I looked through it again while at my college's library today. I'm inclined to think that Leaf was probably drunk when he wrote it and also that it was written for money. I don't think he cared about the Highland or Lowland Relations and whether or not they called cows for a living.)

Maurice Sendak - The Sign on Rosie's Door (I was beginning to lead a Bohemian lifestyle at the time I first read it-- in the 90s-- and it just seemed to fit my ideology and agreed with my imagination)

The Eloise Series by Kay Thompson (Eloise at Christmas Time in particular...God only knows what the hell Kay Thompson was on at the time. She was besties with Judy Garland so anything is possible, plus Eloise the character is rumored to be based on Liza Minelli as a child.)

Dr Seuss - My Many Colored Days (This one just screams acid trip.)

What weird children's books do you remember?

Well, you have to admit that the classics Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz are pretty wierd. My kids wouldn't consider the Alice stories until they were nearly teens, and I remember my sister having nightmares about the flying monkies in Oz.

Os.

There are some that are really disturbing:

http://www.cracked.com/blog/10-great-childrens-books-for-people-who-hate-their-c...

And utterly offensive:

http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/thumb.htm

If "weird" means "often strange and unsettling" then any of the Moomin Books by Tove Jansson would fit. Especially the ones that are more collections of stories, than a single plot. But really, any of them. She was creepy the way Seuss was creepy.

Os: I've never been able to even take a peak at Wizard of Oz as a book, although I enjoyed the film as a kid. I wasn't afraid of either that one or Alice in Wonderland; to me they're just heady, weighty classics and not my type of book. I'm really more into fiction that's either realistic or historical. I also read tons of non-fiction.

I'm actually not sure of the meaning of "weird" in this post, Southern! I think it just means children's books that include things that normally don't go into kids' books, or kids' books that you personally think might be unusual.

KS: As a World War II history buff interested in the cultural influence and daily/social lives of the war, I've certainly heard of the Poisonous Mushroom.

As far as weird, strange, wonderful illustrations: Trouble for Trumpets ... woefully out of print, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, a fun book filled with culinary anarchy.

Regarding the comments on the moomin series, I always thought they were perfectly normal and brought up my kids in the same belief. ;) Perhaps in that case, we should reinterpret the thread title as "Books for Weird Children" rather than "Weird Books for Children".

In the Weird Books for Children category, I nominate In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak. I never did figure out what that was about. And anything by Edward Gorey, although those are good for Weird Children too.

KS: I remember Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs very very well, and gave it to a guy I had a crush on when I was in high school for Christmas. It was our senior year and we all knew he was going to Culinary School. If you had told ME the same year I'd spent the better part of 2001-2002 in Culinary School, I would have stared you down to the ground intensely, and shrivel you to a small puddle. Amazingly, the guy and I both didn't pursue a culinary career...he now manages his family's gun store in Fort Worth, Texas (where we grew up and went to high school) and I'm trying to find a job at the moment.

I loved that book. Used to stare for hours at the hyperdetailed illustrations. Same with Trouble for Trumpets, which should seriously come back into print! Maybe Pixar could make it into a decent Toy Story-esque movie and prompt the publishers to do that? Well, one can dream.

Pishtosh, Bullwash & Wimple by James Flora.

Coraline - both book and movie are weird.

I absolutely loved the Oz books, but I was in fifth grade by the time I was reading them.

This was a cool set of posts/articles on "terrifying French children's books":
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/gallery/2012/may/30/terrifying-french-childrens-...

Not weird per se:

http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/the-filthiest-joke-ever-hidden-in-childrens-m...

Well, Dahl played fast and loose with made-up words he liked. Schnozzberry was originally used in his first published novel Sometime Never, and was a round white juicy fruit about the size of a currant that Gremlins eat.

Os.

The Scary Stories to Read in the Dark series rules. I found it in the school library when I was probably in junior high. The first thing that strikes you is that they could NEVER be published now. The stories are truly creepy, with stuff about people eating toes in soup, and the pictures are very creepy as well. (http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/10/25/scary-stories-to-tell-in-the-dark-art/) The illustration on the cover is of some dark sketched out clown growing out of a mountain or something. This series give full grown adults shudders, maybe even more because it was intended for kids. When I came across it on amazon I had to have it, and now often when people see my library for the first time, it's the first thing they ask if I have. Most of you are probably very familiar with them.