This was another book that I studied real hard when I was a little kid because the drawings were so elaborate and scary. Although we had the 1968 Encyclopedia Britannica in the house, there was nothing in it about monsters or ghosts. I looked. And unfortunately I was born before every little kid got to study dinosaurs in school and become an expert paleontologist. I knew the names of the dinosaurs of course, but monsters....those were the exotic creatures I really wanted to learn more about.
This illustration is for the story, "The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf." I can't quite recall the story but I think this little girl decided she'd rather step on the loaf of bread to cross a puddle rather than ruin her shoes. I'm not sure why pride is considered a deadly sin but pride is what caused this kid to sink into the puddle permanently attached to that loaf of bread, to be carried down, down, down, to be surrounded by lots of monsters in a black, cold cesspool......I think forever. When you're a kid, what's not to like in a story like that? And even better, an illustration like this to look at?
Personally, I think she was just being smart but I'm sure there's a moral message in the story somewhere. And apparently the moral had no effect on me since I think of this story with a weird sort of fondness.




Arthur Szyk did have some illustrations in the book that were really pretty but even the pretty ones had a certain sense of ugly or weird in them. Which I liked.

5 comments:
those are stunning pictures, I've never seen that book...
There's another one I've never seen before. And that devil is one scary dude. Didto that hairy centaur in front of him. Ick.
i love your turtles !!
This has been one of my favourite illustrators for abut 50 years. I loathe Hans Christian Anderson's preachy bowdlerizing of these great old stories, but the illustrations are brilliant
My aunt, a teacher, gave me this book when I was little. The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf served a dual purpose: It taught me what "trod" meant and it scared the crap out of me. I still have the book, in fact. Still scares me.
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