TodayTwisted kids books appeal to all
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Here’s a little secret I discovered several years ago concerning children’s authors — they often have the most twisted minds of authors of any genre. Except for maybe Stephen King who is just a major nutcase and I love him for it.
A prime example of this revelation is beloved author Roald Dahl, best known for his classic “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” His other works include “Matilda,” “The BFG,” “The Witches” and “James and the Giant Peach.”
Another classic penned by Dahl that you may or may not know or is the short story “Lamb to the Slaughter.” It tells of a pregnant wife who discovers her husband is leaving her, goes a tad crazy and kills him by knocking him over the head with a frozen leg of lamb. Realizing she needs to cover her tracks, the woman creates and alibi and calls the police (who worked with her late husband and are friends). Then, the best part, she puts the leg of lamb in the oven, cooking it, and feeds it to the investigating cops, thereby eliminating all evidence of her crime. Twisted, no?
Dahl also has other collections of short stories of the same, dare I say sick, nature, as well as a collection of eery ghost stories.
You can even sense some of this contortedness in his children’s books. Take, for instance, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Those little children who tick off Willy Wonka by misbehaving in his factory are punished in rather cruel ways — thrown into a massive garbage pit, sucked up a chocolate tube and almost made into fudge, and, of course, stretched like some scrumptious boardwalk taffy. And the film adaptations are even more despicable.
Another contemporary author shows these same inclinations as Dahl, but this guy is actually more recognized for his adult works. It’s Gregory Maguire, author of “Wicked,” “Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister” and “Mirror, Mirror,” all classic fairy tales with a big twist.
In “Wicked,” Maguire tells the well-known story of Oz, but through the eyes of the Wicked Witch of the West. We learn to be sympathetic for the witch, Elphaba is her name, and Dorothy comes off as a bit of an idiot who kills the witch for no good reason. Mean, mean, mean.
Before his “Wicked” fame, Maguire wrote children’s books like “Five Alien Elves,” “Seven Spiders Spinning,” “Four Stupid Cupids,” “One Final Firecracker,” and “Six Haunted Hairdos,” all part of a series called the Hamlet Chronicles.
These books follow the escapades of Miss Earth’s elementary school class as they battle ancient poisonous spiders and elves from another planet who aim to kidnap Santa Claus. All are wildly fantastical and make an (adult) reader laugh at the absurdity. But, like Dahl, they have a sinister nature. The poisonous spiders aim to kill some of the children and the elves kidnap the town mayor (playing Santa Claus) and hold him hostage for several days.
Another Maguire children’s book, “The Dream Stealer,” combines several Russian folk tales into one whimsical story that also has its cruelty. Not only is an innocent cow killed, but an evil wolf known as “The Blood Prince” devours an entire trainful of passengers.
As mean-spirited as these children’s books can be, though, most children love them and are too innocent to read into the underlying dreadfulness. They simply see it as a fun story that makes them laugh until they pee their pants.
Maybe it is this ability to appeal to young and old that has made Maguire and Dahl such successes.
Or maybe it’s because readers are afraid to not read their book lest the author’s send some spiders or witches on their trail.
Exciting note discovered at time of writing: When doing a little research online for Gregory Maguire, I discovered he has written and is releasing a third book in the Wicked series called “A Lion Among Men.” This, of course, follows his initial “Wicked” and the sequel, “Son of a Witch.” According to BarnesandNoble.com, the release date is Oct. 14 and is available for pre-orders. I can only assume it tells the story of the Cowardly Lion. I’m intrigued, you?
