If you’re like me, I’m always on the quest for cool books for my kids. Well look no further, I have some coolness for you right here.
Edward Gorey was a very unique and impactful author of unique and quite bizarre children’s books. Gorey wrote and illustrated his books with a very stylistic, cross hatching style in black ink.

Some of Gorey’s famous books include The Doubtful Guest , The Gashlycrumb Tinies , and Amphigorey (Perigee) .

Edward Gorey is most famous for a very “Goth” kind of feel in his art and the diabolical events that befall small children in his writing. Together, these take the form of wicked little books interwoven with his intricately crude drawings of ill tidings upon unsuspecting youth.

The work of Edward Gorey has a fun yet cutely disturbing appeal. He has a vast body of work as writer and illustrator and creative mastermind. Edward Gorey has also done illustrations for classic books by Edgar Allen Poe, H. G. Wells, T.S. Elliot, Samuel Beckett and John Updike. He has also been very influential on many artists and writers including Tim Burton , Tony Millionaire, Jhonen Vasquez, Gris Grimley and Neal Gaiman.

My kids love Edward Gorey. At 3.5 and 2, they obviously don’t get the ghoulish humor but they love the drawings and are kind of creeped out in a fun way.

My oldest loves the series Amphigorey:

Amphigorey is a great collection of Gorey’s work and the title stems from the word amphigory, meaning a nonsense verse or composition. Gorey’s painstakingly trademark, cross- hatched pen and ink drawings are perfectly suited to his oddball verse and prose. The first book of 15, “The Unstrung Harp,” describes the writing process of the novelist Mr. Clavius Frederick Earbrass.

“He must be mad to go on enduring the unexquisite agony of writing when it all turns out drivel.” In the story, “The Listing Attic,” Gorey gives us a set of quirky limericks such as “A certain young man, it was noted, Went about in the heat thickly coated. He said, ‘You may scoff, But I shan’t take it off; Underneath I am horribly bloated.’ ”

Then there is Amphigorey Too and Amphigorey Also
which are just as fun and written in the same vein.

But our favorite is the book The Gashlycrumb Tinies It is a bizarre alphabetical tale of children who meet their doom. For example; “A is for AMY who fell down the stairs, B is for BASIL assaulted by bears,” etc. It’s a very eccentric, yet funny book for either the uninitiated or diehard Gorey fans as well as children. Yes it’s goofy and creepy but it’s fun and a good introduction to expanding your child’s vocabulary.

Gorey has tons of great books. I often describe him as a more deranged Dr. Seuss combined with Shel Silverstein. Trust me, your kids will love these books now and when they are adults. They will cherish them just as we do with Seuss and Silverstein.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.