My dad always told me I'd make a good children's author. He always told me that I should write a book. "That's how you'll get famous" he'd say. So maybe I should start on that...
I was thinking about children's books last night. As I was remembering my personal favorites (Sideways Stories From Wayside School, what what!) I realized that a lot of children's books are creepy. One of the books that I remember to this day is In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories by Alvin Schwartz. I don't remember all of the scary stories in this book, but I do remember one called "The Green Ribbon". It's about a girl who wears a green ribbon around her neck. She never takes it off. Despite her husbands constant curiosity about the ribbon she refuses to remove it. Finally, she takes it off... and her head falls off. What in the world?! This is a children's book! Scary...
Next up we have the timeless story of Hansel and Gretel. Talk about a scary story! If telling kids a witch will put them in an oven and eat them doesn't keep your kids from running away, you must be doing something terribly wrong.
How about Jack and the Beanstalk? An innocent boy just wants to plant some bean seeds and ends up getting hassled by a giant beast man! Rapunzel, an imprisoned girl is used as a rope to hoist people up to her prison cell. And Goldilocks? Inappropriately scary.
Maybe my dad was trying to tell me that I frighten small children? Either way, I think I should get started on that book.
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