While visiting friends recently, I got sucked into the wonderful vortex of reading stories to their nearly-2-year-old daughter. We read this book a lot. A whole lot.
At about the 4th (or 40th) read-through, a realization began to dawn on me. I'm not sure if I'm cynical or the book is secretly sinister, or both. I should let you read it for yourself so you can form your own opinion before I weigh in, though:
Okay, sorry, I know I promised to let you read it independently. But I have to cut in here. Why are all these predators inviting the sweet edible forest animals to a party?! WHAT KIND OF "PARTY" IS THIS?! It's like when a python invites a mouse to come cuddle. It's like when I smile tenderly at a Chipotle burrito and invite it home with me for dinner.
Read on:
At this point, I started to think, "Aww. Maybe I was wrong. It's just a sweet little book about all the forest animals living in peace and harmony. After all, in these 3 scenes, the vulnerable succulent prey animals are the ones inviting the carnivores to the party."
But then on the final page, I realized:
Everybody's got an angle. The bear, fox, badger, owl, and hawk are all just aiming to gather as many edible targets as they possibly can in one place. The beaver, skunk, squirrel, and conniving little rabbit are all just hoping the predators will eat that defenseless baby deer instead.
Moral: Children's books get exponentially more disturbing the more you think about them. So read to your children, but read on autopilot!
And what's the deal with those hot pink snakes popping out of the bushes 2 feet above the ground on the last page? Since when are there anti-gravity bush snakes in Happy Chummy Forestville?
ReplyDeleteNot to mention the Smiling Happytime Fish With Eyelashes who swim with their heads and tail fins above the water in the beaver pond! (Their utter lack of gills may have something to do with that.)
DeleteI had this book as a kid. My parents and I can't remember the name of it. Do you know it? I do remember being older and realizing what was actually going on in the book. We have been trying to find this book for years!
ReplyDeleteFor the book about the forest creatures having a party, the title is on the cover in that first picture.
DeleteFor the (far creepier) book of nursery rhymes including Who Killed Cock Robin, it's Dean's Mother Goose Book of Rhymes
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