#179 of 1001 · January 26, 2021

Some books are gently scary. Others are terrifying. And then there are those that simply maintain a thin layer of unsettling strangeness just below the surface. Peter F. Neumeyer and Edward Gorey’s Donald and the... is just such a book. A boy finds a white worm out in the garbage can. He and his mother put together a habitat for the creature, which soon begins to undergo metamorphosis. Just what sort of beast will emerge from Donald’s jar? The answer may surprise you. Neumeyer leaves the slight story hanging on a surreal note that implies not so much an overt threat of danger as a mild whiff of the uncanny. Gorey’s unmistakable black and white line drawings lend the proceedings his characteristic air of faintly spectral Victorian sangfroid. #edwardgorey #worm #mystery #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcover #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookillustrations #picturebookart #classicchildrensbooks #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks