Wonderful, Whimsical Books That Teach Children About Death, Necromancy, and the Flesh-Eating Undead

Even though I write a lot about movies, TV shows and video games, I believe that it's important to encourage strong reading habits among young children. Not only do strong reading skills help them excell in school and develop a sense of intellectual curiousity that will serve them well for the rest of their lives, but they will also prepare them for when they choose to devote countless hours of their lives to reading obsessive and trivial publications such as this blog.

With that in mind, here are two titles that I recommend for the knee-high, up-and-coming movie monster fans in your life.

* That's Not Your Mommy Anymore: A Zombie Tale, by Matt Mogk (Author) and Aja Wells (Illustrator)

When a friend first told me about this book, I thought she was kidding. I'm glad to know that she's not, because who could rightfully deny their child the opportunity to read such delightfully morbid prose such as this:

* Grandpa Won't Wake Up, by Simon Max Hill (Author) and Shannon Wheeler (Illustrator)

The title says it all: Two children find that their sleeping grandpa won't wake up, so they take matters into their own hands. Yes, occultism is involved at one point.

Of course, there are plenty of other monstrous books to recommend for youngsters of all ages. For example, Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies is perfect for helping children learn the alphabet ("A is for Amy who fell down the stairs. B is for Basil assaulted by bears. ...."). For more advanced readers, try Gary Larson's There's a Hair in My Dirt! A Worm's Story, which provides an educational and heartwarming explanation as to how human hair inevitably becomes part of a worm's diet. Yummy!