What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
Query abandoned by poster
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ABANDONED. A strange, surreal, gruesome children's book given to me as a toddler detailing murder. clever lines about how her aunts are gone and see their limbs poking out from the grass in the background.
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Edward Gorey
Hillaire Belloc
Florence Parry Heide
Gris Grimly
Angus Oblong

Hello. Yes. The illustrations are in color, but the girl is not.
No response, moving to Abandoned folder.
SamuelG (OP) was last active on the site in February 2020.
SamuelG (OP) was last active on the site in February 2020.
Books mentioned in this topic
Emily the Strange (other topics)Authors mentioned in this topic
Edward Gorey (other topics)Hilaire Belloc (other topics)
Florence Parry Heide (other topics)
Gris Grimly (other topics)
Angus Oblong (other topics)
The thing is, the book was incredibly gruesome and sarcastic. So much so I've doubted if it was even meant for children or not. It begins with a girl talking about how her parents are gone, in a carefree rhythmic scheme.
It continues onward with every family member she's shifted off to, with the art revealing what she really did. You'll get these really clever lines about how her aunts are gone and see their limbs poking out from the grass in the background.
The art was very edgy, the mid-1990s to early 2000s emo scene ESC with some scrawlyness here or there. The girl was drawn to be incredibly pale and minimalistic with black hair and black eyes I believe. She was a young child in the book, being around my age if not a little bit older at the time of receiving it.
I've always wondered if it was meant to be a parody book of some kind. But I distinctly remember it saying the typical Ages 6 and up labeling on its back. I may be wrong, but it was definitely marketed as a children's book. It was a picture book basically if I'll be frank that showed blood pooling under the door of her murders parents bedroom.
I remember one page showing how she only had her uncle left with a smirk on her face that was honestly chilling. This was the last page and obviously hinted she was going to kill him next once she was taken in by him.
I know this book HAS to exist. I don't own it anymore but I've searched for it online throughout the years and asked around. No one seems to remember it but I remember it really messing with my head rereading it on my own at age six.
If any can find this, I'd appreciate it a lot! It's been in the back of my mind for years after all and I've had no success so far.
EDIT: Here's some more info that I commented on. a) background is in color, the girl is only in black and white I believe.
b) is definitely a picture book, not a chapter book. each page had a few lines if any.
c) considering the fact I am sixteen, the book was given to me when I was four I believe to 2007ish. I had it in my possession in 2009-2010ish.
d) others have confirmed the book is real so I could not have imagined it.
e) I remember one or two of the aunt's being poisoned I believe by cyanide(?) possibly, I'm unsure if it was that but I think one or two where poisoned.
f) if I remember correctly, there was a narrator who may have been the girl. It was written in a way to write her off as a poor victim.
g) I remember her bathing in one or more of her relatives' blood. Bloody footprints were her own.
h) isn't foreign (non-American) far as I know.