Children's Books discussion

What are some good children's books that are bizarre and weird? Some children's book I've checked out that were bizarre were:

The Fool and the Flying Ship
Simon's Book
McFig and McFly: A Tale of Jealousy, Revenge, and Death
Pat the Beastie
Klutz
Look-Alikes
Love the Beastie: A Spin-And-Play Book

Well, hasn't In the Night Kitchen weirded out a lot of parents? One book I found quite weird, after initially enjoying Harold and the Purple Crayon was the 3rd in the series: Harold's Trip to the Sky. Thanks for introducing an interesting topic though, I'll try to think of other titles to add to the list.

Fjóla wrote: "Well, hasn't In the Night Kitchen weirded out a lot of parents? One book I found quite weird, after initially enjoying Harold and the Purple Crayon was the 3rd in the series:"

Oh yeah! I almost forgot about In the Night Kitchen! Also, Where the Wild Things Are and Outside Over There were pretty bizarre also. I'll have to check out Harold's Trip to the Sky. Sounds interesting!

David Weisner's books come to mind :-)

(I'm thinking especially of "Sector 7" and "June 29, 1999")

Kathryn wrote: "David Weisner's books come to mind :-)"

Oh yeah! I almost forgot about David Wiesner's books! I really loved Flotsam and Tuesday!

Can't wait to get Mr. Wuffles! by David Wiesner.
:-)
And it's a Newberry Award winner.

Oh gosh, sorry I didn't see this earlier; I've read so many, especially lately. I'll have to look at my shelves later. I know you, Ronyell my friend, to know you'd still welcome suggestions. ;)

oops...Caldecott Winner?
I thought I read Newberry.

Cheryl wrote: "Oh gosh, sorry I didn't see this earlier; I've read so many, especially lately. I'll have to look at my shelves later. I know you, Ronyell my friend, to know you'd still welcome suggestions. ;)"

Thanks!

Cecil the Pet Glacier is pretty strange as well.

Gundula wrote: "Cecil the Pet Glacier is pretty strange as well."

Sounds interesting! I need to check that book out!

Ronyell wrote: "Gundula wrote: "Cecil the Pet Glacier is pretty strange as well."

Sounds interesting! I need to check that book out!"

I liked the story, but I found the illustrations a bit strange. I generally find that Giselle Potter's human expressions (especially for little girls) make the characters look too old, and the pet glacier really did not look like a glacier (to me, and I guess I am not the only one, judging from reviews posted, the glacier looks a bit like a pile of white you know what).

Gundula wrote: "Ronyell wrote: "Gundula wrote: "Cecil the Pet Glacier is pretty strange as well."

Sounds interesting! I need to check that book out!"

I liked the story, but I found the illustrati..."

I think I've heard of Giselle Potter's works, but I've never been able to read them. Well, I better get started then!

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole and Rotten Ralph (the first one) might qualify.

Also many by Lane Smith and The Octonauts and the Only Lonely Monster (or other Octonauts stories).

Cheryl wrote: "Also many by Lane Smith and The Octonauts and the Only Lonely Monster (or other Octonauts stories)."

Oh yeah! Lane Smith had done some pretty weird books! Have you read Pinocchio: The Boy and Glasses: Who Needs 'Em?

If one is not thinking of only picture books, two classics of surreal children's literature are, of course, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

The Phantom Tollbooth is very surreal from what I can remember.

I would also call Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs pretty surreal, and Lulie the Iceberg also seems surreal from the book description.

Oh, and how could we forget Tuesday and others by David Wiesner?

And Chris Van Allsburg's books, for example The Mysteries of Harris Burdick!

Oh wow. I've got lots to add to my to-read lists.

Beth Sniffs Books wrote: "Gundula wrote: "I would also call Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs pretty surreal, and Lulie the Iceberg also seems surreal from the book description."

I LOVED cloudy w..."

I have not seen the movie either, but it is supposed to be quite different than the book (one reason I have not been all that keen to see it).

Beth Sniffs Books wrote: "I'd also like to add Busy Bees At Work And Play -- definitely bizarre and weird. AND I just looked at a preview on amazon and I have to say, the illustration of the mamma bee and ba..."

Uggh, you are right about that, especially they eyes, yikes!!

Beth Sniffs Books wrote: "@Gundula, EXACTLY!"

It is one of the main reasons I never warmed to the movie version of the Neverendding Story, the fact that it basically only contained the first part (and also never mentioned that fact). I guess a lot of individuals love the movie and consider it a childhood favourite, but for me, who read the book in 1979 when it first came out (and in German), and the fact that author Michael Ende himself despised the movie version, made me not a fan.

By the way, for a surreal and fantastical wonderful reading experience, you can not go wrong with The Neverending Story (one of my all-time favourites).

Beth Sniffs Books wrote: "@Gundala,
Makes me think we need to make a separate list of unintentionally bizarre AND scary children's books!"

Maybe, but that could perhaps create some controversy, as what some people find creepy and frightening, others will not.

Beth Sniffs Books wrote: "@Gundula, so true. I had those same thoughts after I logged off. The list could potentially hurt the feelings of many artists/illustrators and also upset fans."

If I am reviewing a picture book that creeped me out, while I mention it, I usually also try to point out that this is my personal opinion; that's all I can do.

Talking about this with my husband and my youngest son (who is 19). Son nominates "The Giant Jam Sandwich," a picture book that was a household favorite. Husband says it depends on what you mean by weird. He just finished "Flora and Ulysses" (2014 Newbery book), and loved it. He's not entirely sure that a squirrel that dies (by being vacuumed) and comes back as a poetry-writing super-hero is weird. I think it sounds weird, and it's near the top of my to-read list.

Since someone already mentioned Outside Over There, I'll mention Black and White. There are a few pictures on each page, each with their own story and style. The stories may or may not be connected and they may or may not happen at the same time. For older children, I would definitely count The Phantom Tollbooth. It has a good set of morals entrenched in an interesting story and funny characters.

Stuart's Cape
Plenty of illustrations, a very early chapter book.
By the author of Clementine but very different.
Stuart staples a bunch of old neckties together to make a cape, and has adventures that are, well... you decide.

The Naked Mole book was odd to me.

But that's not surreal. In the Night Kitchen was different. Learning how to use the group message board.

I just read 13 Words by Lemony Snicket and Maira Kalman. Not sure it qualifies... because I'm not sure what to think of it. Here's my 2* review:

I admit it. I'm just not artsy enough for this. Judging by others' reviews, I'm one of the few, though, so I won't slam it. However, my son, who is kinda artsy, agrees with me that it's bizarre (but not in a good way).

I do like the vocabulary (yes, I know it's not a vocabulary book, but still) and maybe child-me would have given it another star for that. (I was weirder as a child than I am now, I think.)

I think it'd be a fun mentor text. Grab random words from a magnetic poetry kit or a SAT test (or mix the two) and write &/or illustrate your own story.

If you do, please share the result with us!

The Dog Walk by Sven Nordqvist is worth four stars imo.

At first I thought it was about as pointless as a Where's Waldo. Then I quickly realized how surreal it is. And then I finally figured out the point - it's a sideways look at one of my favorite themes! It's about taking another look from a different point of view, adopting an alternate mindset, learning to see that we don't all have the same 'cultural lens' and we need to respect others' perspectives.

And it's funny! Check out the zoo, for example, in which penguins observe an encaged flock of chickens...

Brenda ╰☆╮ wrote: "Can't wait to get Mr. Wuffles! by David Wiesner.
:-)
And it's a Newberry Award winner."

I wouldn't call that surreal -- it's science fiction. Great book, though! I also really liked his 3 Little Pigs, which is sort of...meta? They escape off the edge of the page and into another story.

Quite a bit of Shaun Tan feels surreal to me.

Oh, and this quite obcure picture book I had as a child: Tiger Flower.

Mir wrote: "Quite a bit of Shaun Tan feels surreal to me.

Oh, and this quite obcure picture book I had as a child: Tiger Flower."

Omg. Yay for OpenLibrary so I could see the art of Fleur Cowles and the text of Robert Vavra and enjoy the glorious Tiger Flower! Thank you!!

Oh, that's wonderful! I don't think it's easy to find a print edition. I don't know many people who have read Tiger Flower.