LA MELANCOLICA MUERTE DEL CHICO OSTRA

by Tim Burton

This unassuming hardcover in black buckram with a dark lavender title plate is the door into a world of twisted pleasures. Filmmaker Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas) tells 23 winsomely macabre stories about boys and girls who don't fit in. Their bodies are misshapen, their habits are odd, and their parents are appalled by them. But they do try hard to be human, like poor unwanted Mummy Boy, who's "a bundle of gauze": he goes for a walk in the park with his mummy dog. Some kids are having "a birthday party for a Mexican girl." They think Mummy Boy is a piñ "They took a baseball bat and whacked open his head. Mummy Boy fell to the ground; he finally was dead. Inside of his head were no candy or prizes, just a few stray beetles of various sizes." For all its simple humor, The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories is a peculiarly disturbing book about the violence that children suffer. It is illustrated in pen and ink, watercolor, and crayon. The themes and imagery are at a young-adult to adult level.

Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Short Stories, Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Art

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Timothy "Tim" William Burton is a prolific American film director/writer, best known for the dark imagery and quirky nature of his popular films. He is also the author and illustrator of the poetry collection "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories."

Reviews

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is me--a huge Tim Burton fan (or so I thought):



One day, while carelessly browsing the Internets, I came across a book that I had no idea existed. I couldn't believe my eyes and felt especially stupid when realization hit me: I must have been living under a rock in a God-forsaken place, as never before had I heard of this book:



Of course, as soon as I realized that I had to have this book, another realization hit bullseye: remember that God-forsaken place, the one where I lived under a rock? Yes, this book is not available anywhere in Bulgaria. This is where frustration got the better of me...



But I said to myself: "Fear not, Tina, for you have the power of the Internets and the credit card, and have been given upon birth the gift of patience--you shall order this book online from a country where Tim Burton's books actually exist!".

This is me now, loving my book and loving Tim Burton even more:

[Jakob J. 🎃 · Rating 4 out of 5]

More responsible than anyone else for ushering goth aesthetic through the mainstream of popular culture’s chamber doors, Tim Burton took a black page out of Edward Gorey’s book for this motley crew of macabre hobbledehoys.

As dreary as they are droll, these tales of strange children with unique afflictions and predispositions are endearing in their grotesque innocence.

The eponymous Oyster Boy’s calamitous circumstances and downright ghastly fate at the shucking hands of his impotent father are depicted with such vivid gloom. His quiet helplessness is heartbreaking.

[Kenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Alone and rejected, Mummy Boy wept,
then went to the cabinet
where the snack food was kept.”
The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories ~~ Tim Burton



I needed to read today. I didn't want to simply read, I NEEDED to read . I felt a need to clear the voices from Mrs. Dalloway from my mind. The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories , was the perfect book to do so.



This is a collection of grim short poems/stories depicting the lives ~~ & misfortunes of a group of sympathetic outcasts as they try to find their place in the world ~~ often with tragic results.



A stick boy finds himself engulfed in flames when he falls in love with the wrong kind of girl, a voodoo doll is cursed to be forever alone because of the pins sticking out from her heart, a depressed melonhead discovers he should be careful with what he wishes for, & Roy, known as ‘toxic boy’, learns he cannot coexist with fresh, clean air.



Angst & a sense of ‘not really belonging here’ are a given throughout the poems in an homage to adolescence, & even though the content of some of them is quite dark it is difficult not to empathize with the protagonists.



The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories is macabre, disturbing, funny & heartwarming ~~ all at once.~~ of course it is, it’s Tim Burton. It's the perfect opportunity to visit Burton’s unique & unusual mind, & is not to be missed.

[Flo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Burton's movies. So I was kind of interested in his writings. It wasn't a big surprise to find out that the level of awesome weirdness was similar. The distinctive Burton mixture of darkness and uncomfortable tenderness.

I mean, he wrote some really odd poems (technically, not that great, and that is a charming plus) but their sweetness and sensibility are touching. Well, most of the times, they're just sad. However, this book is written in a way that seems to be funny, and for some people, it includes some weird poems which made them laugh and that's it. But after a while, its melancholic humor kicks in, and you just feel bad for most of the characters, many of them rather relatable. I wanted to help them, to adopt them and bring them home and have picnics everyday and dance under a rainbow and clean the house while a couple of birds make their beds. Nevertheless, this is the Burton universe. From a certain perspective, it's not that different from the real world.

Besides the poems, Burton also drew some lovely cartoons (hardly appropriate for children). If you're going to read about a boy with nails in his eyes, it's nice to see a detailed picture of it, right?
Same thing with a girl with many eyes.
Imagine the flood she'd cause if you ever make her cry.

There are poems like The Girl Who Turned into a Bed, Sue and Jimmy, the Hideous Penguin Boy which made me smile as my mind repeated "what a piece of rare work this guy is". Others like The Melancholy death of Oyster Boy almost made me cry. Voodoo girl is funny poem with a heartbreaking ending line. Anchor baby, simply tragic. Oh, Melonhead! You have to read this good advice.

Melonhead
There once was a morose melonhead,
who sat there all day
and wished he were dead.

But you should be careful
about the things that you wish.
Because the last thing he heard
was a deafening squish.

Rare and isolated creatures, kids who don't fit normal standards and are rejected by their parents and laughed at by their neighbors, eccentric people with strange problems. This book is about all the weirdos that are far more interesting than the apparently regular, normal people - a girl with only two eyes, for instance.
This collection, beautifully illustrated, is a gem. It's one of those books which seems ostensibly simple but contains complex ideas, forgotten values and relatable feelings.


Oct 26, 13
* Also on my blog.
* Photo credit: Picture from The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories by Tim Burton.

[Cecily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short collection of macabre poems, illustrated like a children's book, but aimed more at the YA market, and delightful for dark-thinking adults as well.

There are lots of gory things about eyes, stories of non-human children (toxic, half robot, half oyster etc) and a most inappropriate present from Santa.



Occasionally the rhythm doesn't quite work at the first attempt, but even so, it's great fun.

It is strongly reminiscent of Hilaire Belloc's Cautionary Tales for Children (my review HERE), but VERY obviously the work of Tim Burton. His wiry, but colour, illustrations, perfectly complement his dark words.

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this tiny tome was sort of like taking a prolonged vacation on The Island of Really, Really Misfit Toys. The natives are strange but friendly. They take some getting used to, but after a while, you'll want to hug them...BUT be careful - many of them have sharp objects sticking out of their bellies.



The Boy with Nails in His Eyes

The Boy with Nails in His Eyes
put up his aluminum tree.
It looked pretty strange
because he couldn't see.

The above is a pretty good example of what's in this book and should tell you whether or not it's for you. Bad things happen to stick figures and little mummy boys. Children get eaten by their parents and a girl turns into a bed.

If you have a fondness for all things misbegotten AND find that fairy tales are not quite disturbing enough, you should have room in your heart for Melonhead and maybe even Jimmy, the Hideous Penguin Boy.

[Jim Ef · Rating 5 out of 5]

8.5/10
Damn!!! This is so dark but yet so funny.

Its a collection of very short stories about very strange beings. There are no happy endings at all. You see all of those likeable people ( or matchsticks or whatever ) and you think, aww its sad what happened with them, i bet things will be good in the end.........NO.
Im not proud but i laughed with the most of the stories, is it something wrong with me? should i be worried?

Read this book, i don't know why or how but it will cheer you up

[The Artisan Geek]

22/8/20
Very peculiar, but also very good and very Burton.

You can find me on
Youtube | Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Website | The Storygraph

[Kyriaki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Τι τέλειο μικρούτσικο ��ιβλιαράκι ήταν αυτό! Γκυκούτσικες και σκοτεινούτσικες ιστοριούλες γραμμένες σε στοίχους με πολύ ωραία διακριτικά, χρωματιστά και ασπρόμαυρα σχεδιάκια, πολύ πολύ ταιριαστά με την ατμόσφαιρα του βιβλίου!!
Πολύ πολύ μου άρεσε!

[Nickolas B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

5* σκίτσα
5* έκδοση
3* μετάφραση

[Asghar Abbas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wonder what it would be like to live inside Tim Burton's head ala Being John Malkovich, such talent, such virile imaginations, to dwell within his noggin for a while, you know? I don't know why but for some reason I have always held Burton's creativity on par with Neil Gaiman's, though their style is very dissimilar, but both have distinct styles, that's almost as important as talent. I feel these little stories about grotesque beauty, and what a beauty it was, were full of metaphors, heavy with symbolism. Too many hidden meanings here to be casual, Burton was trying to tell us something. In so few words and splashes from his mind, he did rather well. I went into this fully expecting weird quirkiness, maybe little bit of creepy Gothicness, but I found most of the stories to be very twisted darkly so, which I end up enjoying anyways. There was a lot of sexual innuendo, more so than in his films, that did surprise me. But I like it when I am surprised.

OK, so let's break it down, shall we? Stick Boy and Match Girl were very sweet but in a Tim Burton fashion. Staring Girl was downright creepy, brrr. Stain Boy and his power were hilarious. OK now, the titular Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy, Jesus that was something else, quite an impact. Wow. It was definitely multilayered, with myriad themes and that ending, it's all about the endings, isn't it Rðhisha? It had a good beginning with these words ( he proposed in the dunes, they wed by the sea) and a good, righteous end. Stain Boy again, haha. The Girl Who Turned into a Bed, well! Roy the Toxic Boy, how ironic. James, my personal favorite but made me said Whattt aloud. Mummy Boy was like a twisted WALL-E. But my absolute favorite was the Anchor Baby because mermaids and watery stuff, it was so poignant and it had a proper satisfying finish, it was fair like chaos, this was definitely a social commentary. Junk Girl was very meaningful. All these stories strange but good.

Tim Burton's stories have always been about the lonely hearts, the misfits, about isolation. Those who shun the world and are often rejected by it. Those distorted monsters, my heroes. I think all his work is basically a retelling of Frankenstein's monster and the need to separate from others' reality, about the misunderstood. I feel like he's trying to find a cure for the sickness of being alive and assuage the hysteria of living in this world. I have always cherished his movies, but his vision transcends even here to the written form as well. I feel like I know him a little better for it, after reading this collection.

Is it devious of me to enjoy all this weird craziness and all this misery? But it's so beautiful, she's so beautiful. Do you know you are fake? In the end, all I can say is this. Don't forget the music, don't forget the magic. Don't let utterly Empty People take all that away from you.

Dream. Dream it all. Dream until you fall asleep. Dream till they let you. Even then dream some more, just to spite them, just for the heck of it. There's no Alice's sister here to wake you up. Don't be afraid, be a Dreamer even if there is no Eva Green.

[Paula Mota · Rating 4 out of 5]

CABEÇA DE MELANCIA
Era uma vez um cabeça de melancia
que todo o dia se sentava absorto
desejando estar morto

Mas com as coisas que desejamos
precisamos ter cautela.
O último som que ele ouviu
foi o de uma esborrachadela

Sempre acompanhados de desenhos de influência gótica, este é o tom das estórias em verso de Tim Burton, mais conhecido como realizador de clássicos como “Eduardo Mãos de Tesoura” e “O Estranho Mundo de Jack”. E quem viu este último facilmente reconhecerá o traço do autor em muitas das personagens trágicas e inadaptadas que povoam “A Morte Melancólica do Rapaz Ostra & Outras Estórias”. São histórias grotescas e inusitadas que me trazem à memória outros livros pejados de humor negro que adoro, “Lenore” de Roman Dirge e”Pedro Esgrouviado” de Heinrich Hoffman.

A RAPARIGA VODU
É feita de retalhos,
tem pele de algodão
e muitos alfinetes coloridos
saídos do coração.

Tem um magnífico par
de olhos em espiral
por si utilizados
para hipnotizar namorados.

Tem muitos zombies diferentes
de que nunca se cansa.
Até tem um zombie
oriundo de França.

Mas sabe que não pode vencer
a sua terrível maldição,
pois se alguém se aproxima dela
perfura-lhe o coração.

[فؤاد · Rating 3 out of 5]

خیلی جالب بود. ممنون از بزرگوارانی که معرفی کردن.
شیوه ی کار تیم برتون توی فیلم هاش رو میشه "فانتزی سیاه" نامید. یعنی ایده های فانتزی ای که همراه با وحشت و مرگ هستن. این فانتزی ابداً برای بچه ها نیست. انیمیشن های معروف برتون توی این حال و هوا، کابوس پیش از کریسمس و عروس مرده هستش.

فضای این کتاب، تلفیقی از فانتزی سیاه تیم برتون و طنز شل سیلور استاینه: ترکیب طنز و وحشت.
نتیجه خوب از آب دراومده. هر چند بعضیاشون میتونستن خیلی بهتر باشن.

[Coos Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

De tanto en tanto decido volver a la melancolía que emana este libro, para reconfortarme entre las trágicas historias de cada personaje. Creo que no es ninguna novedad que Tim Burton es una de mis personas favoritas en la vida. Como director, como artista, simplemente amo su percepción del arte, su ojo macabro y el tinte gótico en todo lo que hace. Este libro es una recopilación de poemas al estilo Gorey (que, notablemente, es una de las grandes fuentes de inspiración del director) donde nos encontraremos con muchas criaturas incomprendidas, abandonadas a su suerte, olvidadas por la vida. Se lee en media hora como mucho, realmente son poemas muy sencillos y breves, y está plagado de las ilustraciones de Burton.

Lo interesante de esta edición es que llegando al final se encuentran los mismos poemas pero en su idioma original, cosa que considero super importante para no perder su esencia. Creo que es un libro que todo fan de Tim debe leer, realmente lo disfrutarán mucho, es un pedacito de él grabado en cada página.

[Parnian · Rating 3 out of 5]

از تیم برتونی که این بالا نوشتم میشه حدس زد که این یه کتاب متفاوته.
مجموعه ایه از داستان های خیلی کوتاه با تصویرهای فوق العاده جذاب و سوژه های عجیب غریب!

سوژه های این کتاب اغلب بچه هایی هستن که به نحوی غیر طبیعی هستن و به همین دلیل تنهان و طرد شده ن.
نویسنده با لحن بیخیال و بچگانه چیزایی میگه که در عین خنده دار و مسخره بودن، غم انگیزن. بر خلاف ظاهرش از نظر من این کتاب مناسب بچه ها نیست!
خیلی کتاب ظریف و دوست داشتنی ایه.

[Flor ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un poemario gótico y con humor al mejor estilo de Tim Burton .!! 🖤

Me duró menos de media hora jajaj pero lo disfruté mucho .!!

Los que más me gustaron fueron :

🖤Chico mancha
🖤La melancólica muerte de chico ostra
🖤La chica vudú
🖤Chico tóxico
🖤Chico momia
🖤Chico ancla

[Aldrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Half-oyster, half-boy, Oyster Boy is born to a perfectly human couple who supposedly conceived him after dining on “one spectatular dish- / a simmering stew of mollusks and fish.” Growing up, Oyster Boy, whose proper name is Sam but is sometimes called "that thing that looks like a clam," becomes a laughingstock (“When the Thompson quadruplets espied him one day, / they called him a bivalve and ran quickly away.) and a picture of sadness and reticence (“One spring afternoon, / Sam was left in the rain. / At the southwestern corner of Seaview and Main, / he watched the rain water as it swirled / down the drain.”). Meanwhile his parents, unmindful of their offspring’s existential crisis, are having some problems of their own--specifically, problems in bed. Recall the long-standing reputation of oysters as powerful aphrodisiacs and you get a clue as to where Oyster Boy’s story is probably headed. Indeed, the circumstances surrounding the untimely demise of Oyster Boy, one of the many bizarre characters in The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories, is nothing if not melancholy.

The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories is a collection of poems written by filmmaker Tim Burton. The poems, all 23 of them, are about an unlikely assortment of extraordinary children. Products as they are of the warped imagination of the famous director of Edward Scissorhands, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd, and nearly everything else Johnny Depp starred in as an oddball, they are extraordinary not because they possess above-average strength and intelligence but because they have freakish appearances and sorrowful encounters with fate.

A sampling of the titles in this collection yields funny-until-you-realize-they're-not eponymous characters, like The Boy with Nails in His Eyes, The Girl Who Turned Into a Bed, and Melonhead. Mummy Boy, “the result of an old pharoah's curse," and Robot Boy, apparently the consequence of a married woman’s affair with a microwave blender, share with Oyster Boy not only the same gender (obviously) but also the same unenviable feeling of being rejected and neglected, especially by their parents.

The twenty odd characters in this book (Oyster Boy and two other characters appear twice) are children who inspire sympathy not so much for their grotesque abnormalities as for the simple ways they get to accept and cope with them. Often their stories end in tragedy, which is how things turn out for Oyster Boy and Roy, The Toxic Boy, but in some cases these strange fellows appear to think, "To heck with it!" The cape-wearing Stain Boy, who "can't fly around tall buildings, / or outrun a speeding train, / the only talent he seems to have / is to leave a nasty stain," is coolly unconcerned of his "sky-high" dry cleaning bill. The Pin Cushion Queen ("When she sits alone on her throne / pins push through her spleen.") sits alone on her throne anyway.

Aside from composing the lines that narrate their not so kid-friendly stories, Burton also illustrated the plight of Oyster Boy and his miserable company in this collection. Already in the first drawing, of The Nightmare Before Christmas’ Jack Skellington lookalike Stick Boy and the endearing yet deathly Match Girl, the clearly mismatched young lovers in the first story, shades of Burton’s filmography and strokes guided by his fascination with the great Edward Gorey are at mischievous work. His illustrations add to the dark humor of his playful poems as well as to the intrinsic humanity of his characters, freaks and geeks who are actually--if you'll permit the poor rhyme--beautiful creatures in spite of their ugly features.

Now why does that description sound awfully familiar?

[Ian D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Τον Tim Burton τον θαυμάζω απεριόριστα και λίγο με τρομάζει. Αγαπώ την αλλόκοτη, πρωτότυπη και ανορδόδοξη ματιά του στην πραγματικότητα και την τρυφερότητα με την οποία αγκαλιάζει τη διαφορετικότητ��. Η ευαισθησία που επιδεικνύει στους υπέροχους "παρείσακτους", στους περιθωριακούς της κοινωνίας, ποτέ δεν παύει να με συγκινεί, από τον Ψαλιδοχέρη μέχρι σήμερα.

Εδώ έχουμε άλλο ένα δείγμα του ιδιοφυούς μυαλού του, όπου με πολύ χιούμορ, το γνώριμο γοτθικό του στυλ και το σκοτεινό δημιουργικό του πρίσμα, μας παρουσιάζει σύντομες έμμετρες ιστορίες για παιδιά με την αντίστοιχη εικονογράφηση. Δε χρειάζονται λόγια, δώστε του μία ευκαιρία.

[Sara Pahlevani · Rating 1 out of 5]

دوتا چیز مهم فقط:
کاغذ خیلی زیادی حیف شده
و خوندنش به فارسی لطفی نداره

حالا کلا متنشم عجیب غریب و غیردوست‌داشتنی بود برام. اما به انگلیسیش حداقل باعث میشد از شعر بودنش لذت ببرم

کلا نمیدونم چرا توقعم از این کتاب انقدر بالا بود

[☠Kayla☠ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun fact about me I'm OBSESSED with Tim Burton's work. I'm totally in love with Jack Skellington mostly but all of Tim Burton's work just makes me extremely happy. So it's no surprise this book was a must have on my shelf and in my life. I absolutely loved it!

[Christy Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a bit of melancholy fun from Tim Burton, who I adore. I love his skewed view of the world and how he can take the scary or off-putting and make it interesting or even adorable. I love the illustrations that bring his poems and little stories to life.

[Annelies · Rating 4 out of 5]

:-)

[Somayeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

خیلی خوب بود, خیلی
داستان-شعر های این کتاب دقیقا توی همون فضای انیمیشن عروس مرده یا کابوس قبل از کریسمس بودند

اگر طرفدار کارهای تیم برتون هستید حتما بخونیدش
اینم تصویر بعضی از شخصیتهای این کتاب:)

[Danni The Girl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The melancholy death of the oyster boy was the creepiest one for me I think.

Very short, very weird.

Tim Burton I think has such a vast imagination which I thoroughly enjoy

Although I’m not sure if he’s trying to tell us all that having a child to save a relationship will be the ruin of you?

Interesting

[Franco Santos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Siniestro, gótico, oscuro. Un libro de Tim Burton no podría no ser así. Es una seguidilla de historias tristes y obviamente tétricas. Me gustó.

[Martin Rondina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maravilloso! Es oscuro, satírico, tierno y melancólico, lo disfruté muchísimo!

[CG. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim Burton's artwork is often described as Goofy Gothic. Simple, surreal, and fantastically strange. I've always been a huge fan of Tim Burton's work in the past, (and ever since I was a kid.) So you can probably imagine how excited I was, to find out about the existence of this book. I recently got the chance to read it, and I'm happy to say that I wasn't disappointed. The poetry was bizarre and minimalistic, and the artwork simple and odd. (Each had that trademark Tim Burton style) that I loved.
I appreciated how it stayed fun and quick to read, and didn't necessarily have to be extremely complex, or wordy. (And some of the poems, were even pretty profound in thier simplicity, depending on how you viewed them.)
Examples like; Voodoo girl, Anchor baby, Mummy boy, and Junk girl. Etc.

~Personal favorites/ones that stuck out to me~
-Mummy boy
-Anchor baby
-Voodoo girl
-James
-Junk girl
-Melonhead (aka me.)
-And Staring girl, (which fun fact: would later be the inspiration for the "Weird girl" character in Frankenweenie.)


Overall it was a short, entertaining and slightly gruesome, read.
4.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe how old this book is already, stumbled across it whilst looking in a box in the loft.

If you are a fan of Tim Burton's a nightmare before Christmas and corpse bride then you'll love this book. The illustrations are stunning and really freaky, the poems themselves are pretty messed up. There are a lot about kids and babies and couples trying for a baby, the results of which don't end well. The titles are genius, examples; Jimmy, the hideous penguin boy and the boy with nails in his eyes. It's an odd mind that managed to come up with these.

Blog review: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2019...

[sAmAnE · Rating 5 out of 5]

این کتاب،توسط تیم برتون شاعر،نویسنده،کارگردان و نقاش امریکایی نوشته و تصویرگری شده است.یکی از ویژگی‌های سبک سورئال وجود تصاویر در میان نوشته‌هاست.کتاب مملو از اشعاری با درون‌مایه‌ی کمدی سیاه و موجوداتی عجیب و غریب است.تیم برتون سازنده‌ی فیلم‌هایی مانند ادوارد دست‌قیچی،بت‌من،عروس مرده،آلیس در سرزمین عجایب و ... است.این کتاب در سال۱۹۹۷ منتشر شده. او گاها در فیلم‌هایش از این شخصیت‌ها استفاده کرده است.برای لذت بردن از کتاب باید به این سبک علاقه‌مند باشید😊😇
#مرگ_غم_انگیز_پسر_صدفی
#تیم_برتون ترجمه #احسان_نوروزی

[Kitty G Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of very very short stories which are all written in verse and have an accompanying illustration or illustrations. This whole book was written and illustrated by Tim Burton who is one of my favourite artists and I was very intrigued when I stumbled across this on Amazon. It's a very small book but it's a brilliant one and I have to say that it was better than I thought it would be.

This collection showcases some of Burton's weird character ideas and stories and whilst some stories (such as the Oyster Boy one) span a couple of pages in wonderful verse and with a sad and woeful tale, others are purely a line or two with the illustration to make you think and wonder. None of these stories were cheery, they all have a melancholy sadness or loneliness about them and each of the peculiar creations are misunderstood and isolated. However, the stories are wonderful and funny and entertaining to read and the illustrations just make this book a wonderful one to add to your collection.

Although this looks like a children's book in design (verse + pictures usually = kids book) it's certainly got some more disturbing characters and the stories are all somewhat tragic and chaotic. I wouldn't, therefore, recommend this as a book to give to or read to kids, but I would say that the ironic beauty of these stories is certainly worth a go and I loved reading through this book.

I also feel like this book has great re-readability to it and I have no doubt that I will pick this up again someday to re-read and re-experience these sad little tales. Highly recommended!