I could not get enough of sad books as a kid. I loved Owl at Home when he cried into his tea pot. And my daughter loves scary or disturbing stories and pictures. We mustn’t underestimate children, they can handle difficult feelings, and good books can help them.
That reminds me that Eva Lindström has another book called Everyone Walks Away where the main character cries into a pot and puts it on a stove to make special jam for his friends. There’s a page where he’s literally kneeling on all fours on the counter, stirring the pot and crying into it some more when it gets too thick. Makes me die every time. Highly recommend if you like sad tea-based plots.
Ohhhh my stars, this resonates. The one Frog and Toad that really freaks me out is The Dream when Toad keeps showing off to Frog while Frog gets smaller and smaller and smaller until he essentially disappears. Talk about existential dread.
I still get nervous when I have to share them with the littles, hoping my fear doesn’t carry over to them.
That Frog and Toad story about The Dream totally scared me, and actually any time either one of them said, in one way or another, "I AM ALL ALONE!" it was scary (I was an only child). ALSO for some reason the song "Girl Land" from Free to Be You and Me creeped me out so much. I always had to skip it. ALSO ALSO I'm sure I'm not the only one who was bone-deep traumatized by "The Green Ribbon" in "In a Dark, Dark Room."
Yes! “The Dream” is scary. Your friend disappearing into nothing and you’re left in an empty theater?! No no no.
I just had to look up “Girl Land” and holy circus I don’t blame you. I’m positive you were in the majority of kids skipping that one. And yep, “The Green Ribbon” is one of only a few stories that was brutally carved into my hippocampus.
I was (and am) a scary-story-avoider, and I'm sure The Green Ribbon was casually passed to me by some other student ("read this!") and it still haunts me.
Most recently: Julia Sarda’s “The Queen in the Cave.” There is something so magical and dark throughout, from the illustrations to just the emotion of the main character that you can so Easily tap into.
As a kid, one unsettling book for me was "Alexander and the wind-up mouse" from Leo Lionni. ("Alexander und die Aufziehmaus" in german).
It is scary and so sad halfways and i still almost have to cry when reading it. There's a very happy ending though. But the atmosphere always felt spooky to me. And - of course - l loved it a lot.
My global children's literature class recently had a conversation about this. We were comparing some European children's books with some more recent American picture books. The consensus was that the European books were more unsettling and didn't shy away from talking about darker concepts like death; and in my opinion these books were much more interesting and stay in the reader's memory for longer. Kids don't want perfection all the time, it's boring and doesn't prepare them for encountering uncomfortable situations in real life.
The Bad Case of the Stripes is a book that was so unsettling that I kept coming back to as a child. Specifically, the page where all the doctors are standing around Camilla and studying her. Or the page where she turns into the pill bottle?? Terrifying.
It’s so true that many other parts of the world seem to take more risks with subject matter and tone in picture books. I think so many different cultural, political, and economic factors play into that… it’s a fascinating discussion.
And yes, A Bad Case of Stripes is definitely an unsettling one. It’s obviously a terrifying concept, but the realistic rendering makes it feel like it really happened! And I swear there I something about doctors examining kids that just grips children more than anything!
And even though I have a copy of Charlotte’s Web right by me, I totally agree with how horrifying that page is of Wilbur being told he’s going to be butchered. I just can’t deal with it… and it makes me stop reading and have to think about something else. When I think of all the other animals that also are just going to be ‘food’ for some supermarket… make me so sad.
There's an interesting connection between these unsettling moments and the Ordeal stage (the hero appears to die/darkest moment) of the Hero's Journey framework. In books, we get to freeze frame on this instant for as long as we want.
The Book Alexander and the Blue Ghost had that delightfully disorienting effect on me. To the point that the page where things seem the most grim was, in my memory, much more darkly lit than it actually is now that I've reread it.
I haven’t come across Alexander and the Blue Ghost before — will have to look that one up!
The Ordeal stage of the hero’s journey in any film is always the part I dread watching! But you’re so right — in a book, it’s just frozen in time for you, so somehow it feels a bit different. Easier to absorb?
Yeah exactly! I think kids love having the chance to just look at the moment before doom or mid-doom (getting a shot, ice cream melting, etc.) and, like you said, absorb
You are an amazing writer! I have always been alarmed and fascinated at how terrifying kids books are (going back to the Brothers Grimm) and you captured exactly how I feel about it. But with better words :-)
I could not get enough of sad books as a kid. I loved Owl at Home when he cried into his tea pot. And my daughter loves scary or disturbing stories and pictures. We mustn’t underestimate children, they can handle difficult feelings, and good books can help them.
Tear-water tea! Yes! So deliciously woeful.
That reminds me that Eva Lindström has another book called Everyone Walks Away where the main character cries into a pot and puts it on a stove to make special jam for his friends. There’s a page where he’s literally kneeling on all fours on the counter, stirring the pot and crying into it some more when it gets too thick. Makes me die every time. Highly recommend if you like sad tea-based plots.
Here’s to more good, strange books!
Ohhhh my stars, this resonates. The one Frog and Toad that really freaks me out is The Dream when Toad keeps showing off to Frog while Frog gets smaller and smaller and smaller until he essentially disappears. Talk about existential dread.
I still get nervous when I have to share them with the littles, hoping my fear doesn’t carry over to them.
Loved this entire article!
Seems like “The Dream” was scary for a lot of people! For whatever reason that one didn’t have quite the same grip on me but I can totally see it.
And thank you very much! I’m so glad it resonated.
Also Shivers! With the Old Dark Frog story where he forces Frog to turn his jump rope for him until the old dark frog gets hungry enough to eat him.
That Frog and Toad story about The Dream totally scared me, and actually any time either one of them said, in one way or another, "I AM ALL ALONE!" it was scary (I was an only child). ALSO for some reason the song "Girl Land" from Free to Be You and Me creeped me out so much. I always had to skip it. ALSO ALSO I'm sure I'm not the only one who was bone-deep traumatized by "The Green Ribbon" in "In a Dark, Dark Room."
Yes! “The Dream” is scary. Your friend disappearing into nothing and you’re left in an empty theater?! No no no.
I just had to look up “Girl Land” and holy circus I don’t blame you. I’m positive you were in the majority of kids skipping that one. And yep, “The Green Ribbon” is one of only a few stories that was brutally carved into my hippocampus.
I was (and am) a scary-story-avoider, and I'm sure The Green Ribbon was casually passed to me by some other student ("read this!") and it still haunts me.
Most recently: Julia Sarda’s “The Queen in the Cave.” There is something so magical and dark throughout, from the illustrations to just the emotion of the main character that you can so Easily tap into.
LOVE that book. It really captures the weirdly dark games I remember playing as a kid! Ha!
As a kid, one unsettling book for me was "Alexander and the wind-up mouse" from Leo Lionni. ("Alexander und die Aufziehmaus" in german).
It is scary and so sad halfways and i still almost have to cry when reading it. There's a very happy ending though. But the atmosphere always felt spooky to me. And - of course - l loved it a lot.
Yes, very eerie and heart-wrenching! (The lizard at the end of the garden - eek!) There are real echoes of The Velveteen Rabbit in that one.
My global children's literature class recently had a conversation about this. We were comparing some European children's books with some more recent American picture books. The consensus was that the European books were more unsettling and didn't shy away from talking about darker concepts like death; and in my opinion these books were much more interesting and stay in the reader's memory for longer. Kids don't want perfection all the time, it's boring and doesn't prepare them for encountering uncomfortable situations in real life.
The Bad Case of the Stripes is a book that was so unsettling that I kept coming back to as a child. Specifically, the page where all the doctors are standing around Camilla and studying her. Or the page where she turns into the pill bottle?? Terrifying.
It’s so true that many other parts of the world seem to take more risks with subject matter and tone in picture books. I think so many different cultural, political, and economic factors play into that… it’s a fascinating discussion.
And yes, A Bad Case of Stripes is definitely an unsettling one. It’s obviously a terrifying concept, but the realistic rendering makes it feel like it really happened! And I swear there I something about doctors examining kids that just grips children more than anything!
And even though I have a copy of Charlotte’s Web right by me, I totally agree with how horrifying that page is of Wilbur being told he’s going to be butchered. I just can’t deal with it… and it makes me stop reading and have to think about something else. When I think of all the other animals that also are just going to be ‘food’ for some supermarket… make me so sad.
Ugh I know - that illustration of him bawling his little eyes out gets me every time. The devastation!
There's an interesting connection between these unsettling moments and the Ordeal stage (the hero appears to die/darkest moment) of the Hero's Journey framework. In books, we get to freeze frame on this instant for as long as we want.
The Book Alexander and the Blue Ghost had that delightfully disorienting effect on me. To the point that the page where things seem the most grim was, in my memory, much more darkly lit than it actually is now that I've reread it.
I haven’t come across Alexander and the Blue Ghost before — will have to look that one up!
The Ordeal stage of the hero’s journey in any film is always the part I dread watching! But you’re so right — in a book, it’s just frozen in time for you, so somehow it feels a bit different. Easier to absorb?
Probably overselling it, but I think it's great.
Yeah exactly! I think kids love having the chance to just look at the moment before doom or mid-doom (getting a shot, ice cream melting, etc.) and, like you said, absorb
Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak was always that book for me as a child.
Baby-snatching is always terrifying!
You are an amazing writer! I have always been alarmed and fascinated at how terrifying kids books are (going back to the Brothers Grimm) and you captured exactly how I feel about it. But with better words :-)
Ahh thank you! You do wonder if some of those stories could get published today… But like, why not? :)