The Gashleycrumb Tinies Analysis

It’s funny how we insist on seeing children as delicate, unsoiled flowers who can be crushed by the slightest change in the wind. I’m not saying children should be exposed to bad things, but they can’t be protected in a bubble, either.

Every time a book aimed at kids displays any sort of darkness or unpleasantness, adults protest until their voices drown out the pleas of their children asking for the book.

We hear about it every time a Harry Potter book comes out, or a classic like Alice in Wonderland is revisited, or when another child discovers the delights of Shel Silverstein, master poet for the kinder folk.

Did you ever notice that children like these kind of books, usually far more than anything ‘sweet?’ One of my favorite authors when I was a child—and still today—is Edward Gorey, the wonderful author and illustrator with the magnificent blend of dark humor and childish delight.

Studies showed that children were much quicker to learn their letters with this book than with something ‘cute,’ but that didn’t stop parents from calling for a ban. Do parents just forget what it was like to be a kid?

Sadly, although I teach the …Tinies each semester, I have yet to find a student who has ever heard of Gorey. I hope this changes, and I really hope that children are still being naughty and reading what they’re not ‘supposed’ to.

I’ll print Gorey’s masterpiece here for you. You cannot get the full impact from just the words; you really need to look at the wonderfully macabre illustrations, which you can do here.

Basically, a mysterious stranger shows up to take 26 kids out for a Saturday adventure. The children all end up dying in wonderfully gruesome ways. And along the way, readers can learn the alphabet, or just delight in the whole affair.

A is for Amy who fell down the