I entered the game shop just to take a look
At the games on the shelf when I noticed this book.
It looked like a Seuss book with Lovecraft veneer
Curiosity piqued, it drew me to peer
Inside of the covers, I found quite a tale,
But would younger readers enjoy it or quail?
Yes, this is H. P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu adapted into simple rhyme in the style of Dr. Seuss, with illustrations to match. You can find it at game shops, book stores, Amazon, or the publisher's website.
While the cover pitches it "for beginning readers," Lovecraftian horror is not necessarily the best way to encourage kids to read. Or is it? I am neither a parent nor a child psychologist, just a librarian with odd taste in books.
Speaking of librarian perspectives, quality seems good throughout. The paper feels sturdy, the printing is clear, the size resembles the large library hardbound editions of Seuss books, and so on.
The art style of Seussian whimsy works well to convey the non-Euclidean geometry of alien places like R'lyeh.
Like the original tale, this story is presented in three parts: The Horror in Clay, The Tale of Inspector Legrasse, and The Madness from the Sea. If you want to read the Lovecraft version, you can read it online, or purchase a physical copy like this edition full of Cthulhu mythos tales. I also own it, and it is also a very nice volume.
Fortunately, all of these stories are just quaint relics of a century past, and have no bearing on reality. There are no elder gods sleeping beneath the waves, no cults dedicated to worshiping such eldritch horrors, and no need to worry about celestial portents of doom.
Probably.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
