good night sweet sdv grandpa and his fucked up bed; and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest
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Posting this because I reblogged something about Usborne Books and apparently most people seem to associate Usborne with lift-the-flap books for preschoolers.
Which is weird because to me as a child Usborne books were some of the spookiest books I could get my hands on. They filled the same place as Dorling Kindersley - colorful, creative, informative books that were educational as well as fun to read. And their approach to myths and legends was, not going to lie, very formative for me. If it wasnt' for Usborne, there might not have been ABC.
And much like Dorling Kindersley, Usborne went through a phase of extreme creative experimentation before stagnating into safer forms of publishing. But for a while, Usborne books were mindblowing.
So what has Usborne done then that aren't lift-the-flap books for preschoolers? Well, a lot. Puzzle Adventures. Extreme map and code puzzles. How to Draw Books. Cut-out and build houses, Trojan horses, and dinosaurs (by Luis Rey no less). How to Be A Detective. Nature spotter's guides. Nature Search books. Facts and Lists books that instilled cosmic horror in me years before I knew what cosmic horror was. I could go on forever.
There was a series of excellent myths and legends books which I posted about before.
These were illustrated by Rodney Matthews and were every bit as metal as you'd expect from something by Rodney frickin' Matthews.
Then there were the Quest books which were Where's Waldo-esque books that followed a storyline in a fantasy world.
In this case, they showcased lush art by Nick Harris in which you find various items or characters to make the story progress, as well as other random things (find 10 rats, find 8 clownfishes, etc).
The Tabloid Histories books, oh my gosh.
Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Medieval, etc. history told through tabloid articles and ads.
More about monsters though! There were books about folktales and legends illustrated by Stephen Cartwright.
For me it was my first time hearing of a lot of them, such as the Lambton Worm!
The Haunted World, now that was spooky! With lots of colorful, dripping art by Graham Humphreys.
Introduced me to a lot of ghosts, vampires, and monsters from around the world. Such as the story of Arnold Paole!
And there were maps and diagrams...
... and lindorns [sic] and mokele-mbembes!
The Supernatural Guides had denser text but sadly have not been reprinted anytime recently.
The World of the Unknown series, though... ohohoho those were good.
Of course (no offense to fans of ghosts and UFOs), I had eyes only for the Monsters book. With such gems as the Velue...
... the Lambton Worm...
... and cryptozoological rubbish such as the Monongahela sea serpent (below), the Loch Ness Monster, the Abominable Snowman, and their ilk.
You know, the sort of thing that would keep a 7-year-old fascinated (and perhaps scared under the blankets) for weeks.
Anyway, yeah I just really love Usborne books. Or at least what they used to be.
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HAPPY NERO LOSES DEVIL BRINGER DAYYYY!!!!
go rip your own son's arm off in a pursuit of power to celebrate!
Non-gif version of the second image under cut cause Tumblr died a bit trying to load the gif
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PARLIAMENT OF ROOKS #5
A SEASON IN HELL
Created and Illustrated by Abigail Jill Harding
Script: Abigail Jill Harding with Richard Starkings
Letters and Editorial: Richard Starkings
Publisher: Comixology Originals
Release Date: April 30, 2024
Having failed to stop Malphas, Ravenscar transverses Hell to find and bring Seraphina home – but at what cost?
BUY/READ HERE
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