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Strangest Children's Books Tales You Won't Believe Are Real

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Various stories highlight dark consequences for disobedient children, with themes of punishment, tragedy, and horror prevalent throughout the tales, serving as cautionary tales and moral lessons for young readers.

Insights

  • The stories mentioned in the text often involve dark and gruesome consequences for characters who exhibit undesirable behaviors, serving as cautionary tales to young readers about the potential outcomes of their actions.
  • Through a variety of narratives, ranging from transformations to tragic endings, these tales emphasize the importance of obedience, kindness, and caution, instilling moral lessons and warnings in a captivating yet chilling manner.

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Recent questions

  • What is the story of "The Little Match Girl"?

    A poor girl hallucinates warmth from matches on a cold night, ultimately freezing to death with a smile.

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Summary

00:00

Cautionary Tales for Children: Dark Consequences

  • "Little Miss Consequence" from 1880 aimed at young girls, features a story of a girl punished for acting like a boy, transforming into a real boy as a consequence.
  • Maurice Sendak's "Outside Over There" tells of Ida's baby sister being stolen by faceless goblins, replaced with an ice baby that melts in her hands, leading to a rescue mission.
  • Hilaire Belloc's "Rebecca, Who Slammed Doors for Fun and Perished Miserably" warns of the dangers of slamming doors, with Rebecca meeting a tragic end due to a falling marble bust.
  • Hans Christian Andersen's original "The Little Mermaid" involves the mermaid enduring excruciating pain with every step on land, facing heartbreak and a tragic end after failing to assassinate her love.
  • Andersen's "The Little Match Girl" depicts a poor girl hallucinating warmth from matches on a cold night, ultimately freezing to death with a smile.
  • The Brothers Grimm's "Cinderella" features a darker version where stepsisters mutilate their feet to fit the shoe, leading to gruesome consequences at the wedding.
  • The Brothers Grimm's "The Strange Feast" involves anthropomorphized sausages, with one attempting to harm the other, creating a bizarre and puzzling tale.
  • Heinrich Hoffman's "Struwwelpeter" includes stories like "Shock-Headed Peter," where a boy's lack of hygiene leads to loneliness as a cruel punishment.
  • Hoffman's "Little Suck-a-Thumb" tells of Konrad losing his thumbs to the Tall Tailor for thumb-sucking, showcasing a gruesome lesson against the habit.
  • Hoffman's "The Cry Baby" features a girl crying until her eyes fall out, emphasizing the consequences of excessive tears and the need to remain cheerful.

14:20

Tales of Pride, Gluttony, and Horror

  • Phoebe Ann, from "Slovenly Betsy," is a girl with a big head who refuses to look down due to excessive pride, leading to her neck stretching like a giraffe until she needs a wagon for her head.
  • Mary, in "The Little Glutton," can't stop snacking and ends up bedridden after being swarmed by bees for stealing honey, only to be fed medicine to cure her constant need to eat.
  • Jenny in "The Green Ribbon" wears a green ribbon around her neck her whole life, only revealing the reason when she's dying - her head falls off, revealing she's a headless zombie.
  • Coraline, from Neil Gaiman's book, discovers a parallel universe with button-eyed people, where she must sew buttons into her eyes to stay, eventually outsmarting the villain and escaping.
  • "Night of the Living Dummy" from Goosebumps features ventriloquist dummies coming to life, claiming the girls as slaves, with sinister themes of slavery and animal cruelty.
  • "Bad Hare Day" involves a boy accidentally turning his sister into a rabbit, discovering a talking rabbit magician who turns him into a rabbit as well.
  • In "Beware the Purple Peanut Butter," readers face strange consequences after eating purple goo, like being flushed down the toilet or fighting a big mouse.
  • "The Curse of Camp Cold Lake" follows a girl at a summer camp stalked by a mysterious figure, leading to deadly fates for her and her campmates.
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