Creepy children's book
December 18, 2014 3:16 AM Subscribe
I am trying to find a picture book that freaked my siblings and I out in the early 1970s.
The theme of the book was "things are not as they seem." On the right hand page was a closeup or cropped illustration that looked like one thing (say a pair of eyes), and when you turned the page, you would see the complete picture and realize it was something else entirely, like butterfly wing.
After about ten or so sweet and lovely reveals, there was a picture of a smiling old man with text along the lines of, "look at his nice face! Wouldn't you like to be his friend?" and when you turned the page he was holding a club behind his back with a warning that he was a BAD MAN. The last set showed a dirty hobo, who was revealed to be holding "a flower for you."
Anyone recognize this book? We got it from the library around 1975, so it might have been published earlier. It was hardcover, and the illustrations were full color, in sort of impressionistic watercolor. Thank you!
The theme of the book was "things are not as they seem." On the right hand page was a closeup or cropped illustration that looked like one thing (say a pair of eyes), and when you turned the page, you would see the complete picture and realize it was something else entirely, like butterfly wing.
After about ten or so sweet and lovely reveals, there was a picture of a smiling old man with text along the lines of, "look at his nice face! Wouldn't you like to be his friend?" and when you turned the page he was holding a club behind his back with a warning that he was a BAD MAN. The last set showed a dirty hobo, who was revealed to be holding "a flower for you."
Anyone recognize this book? We got it from the library around 1975, so it might have been published earlier. It was hardcover, and the illustrations were full color, in sort of impressionistic watercolor. Thank you!
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http://www.amazon.com/Brian-Froud/e/B000APOEK2/
http://www.worldoffroud.com/books/index.php
I don't remember a specific book like this, but it sounds like his sense of humor. For example--the good fairy/bad fairy book plays with perception like this. His books also creeped me out while mesmerizing me.
posted by parkerjackson at 12:26 PM on December 26, 2014