The Crows of Pearblossom

The Crows of Pearblossom
by Aldous Huxley with illustrations by Barbara Cooney/ published 1967 by Random House

In the freakiest kids' books of all time category is this little ditty by the 20th Century master of modern thought himself, Aldous Huxley. I couldn't resist buying it when I found it tucked on the bookshelf at a library sale, and I have to say, it is a pretty whacked-out book. Illustrated by famed children's book illustrator Cooney, the story is dark and realistic about a sinister snake who gorges himself daily on the eggs of a naive mother crow.

By and by Mrs. Crow came back from the store, and at first, when she saw the snake, she was frightened. But as soon as she noticed how tightly he had tied himself up she felt very brave and proceeded to give the snake a very long lecture about the wickedness of eating other people's eggs.

The crows plot a plan against the snake involving clay eggs and ending in the snake becoming a clothesline on which mother crow hangs out her new hatchling's diapers. It's pretty freaky, and the crows and snake both possess eerie human qualities that make you shudder being on the receiving end of any personal revenge Huxley might ever have exacted.

Also by:
Christmas in the Barn
Chanticleer and the Fox
Wynken, Blynken and Nod
Ox-Cart Man
The Man Who Didn't Wash His Dishes