Ladies and Gentlemen: I give you the most frightening children’s book of all time. This was a gift to me by a good friend. This was hers as a child and she said at the time she was somewhat obsessed with it. For some reason, she thought I would appreciate the incredible oddness that permeates this classic tale of the three little kittens who lose their mittens. I will be posting the entire book this week.
A little background: The book is labeled to be from the Renewal Products Incorporated Eduacational Games and Aids Division. Now if that doesn’t sound like fun fucking company, then I don’t know what does! The oddness begins on the first page, where we find out that actually, this is a Japanese publication. The copyright is from 1971 from the Frobel-Kan Company Limited and says it was printed and bound in Japan. Oh, and the “pictures” are attibuted to the Rose Art Studios. And wait until you see the magical work of these studios! Avatar got nothin’ on them!
So, as we see on the beautiful cover, the three little kittens are washing their mittens among some sort shag carpet and chroma-key background. I keep expecting to see a weather map behind them. Obviously no kitten can wash anything without using CAT SOAP POWDER, because using DOG SOAP POWDER would be suicide back in the 70s. And what shag carpet would be complete without plastic flowers strategically placed around the wash bucket? Oh, Rose Art Studios, your composition skills wow and amaze….
Stay tuned tomorrow for Chapter One.
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