The Osbick Bird — Edward Gorey

READ A BANNED BOOK • “An osbick bird flew down and sat on Emblus Fingby’s bowler hat.”

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I couldn’t find concrete info on whether any of Edward Gorey’s books were ever officially banned but his children’s books have definitely been questioned for their macabre humour and surreal illustrations, especially the ones that poke fun at children dying in unfortunate and absurd ways. Seems there’s a pattern when it comes to children’s lit and censorship: we love to shelter kids from reading about Difficult Life Things like grief, cruelty, and illness. Seems counterintuitive to me.

This one is a good place for kids (and adults!) to start with Gorey. It’s relatively chill when it comes to the death theme and is mostly a wholesome story about finding and nurturing life-long friendship, and healing when it comes to an end. It’s purposefully ambiguous about the nature of the man and the bird’s relationship but it works well. The story has stayed with me since I read it last year and I’ve found myself returning to it this fall as it starts to get chilly outside and I miss my pal Luke (who passed a few years ago) a little extra.