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Kaethe

Kaethe

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The Treehorn Trilogy: The Shrinking of Treehorn, Treehorn's Treasure, and Treehorn's Wish - Florence Parry Heide,Edward Gorey

The Treehorn Trilogy: The Shrinking of Treehorn, Treehorn's Treasure, and Treehorn's Wish - Florence Parry Heide, Edward Gorey

Long ago I was a young reader growing up in the middle of nowhere (eleven miles from each of the three nearest towns, in fact). I didn't often get to the library, but I had a number of magazines and books thoughtfully delivered by the USPS. One of those magazines, a little digest-sized thing, included The Shrinking of Treehorn. What struck me was the illustration showing Treehorn walking under his own bed, he was that small, carrying a parcheesi-like gamepiece with his arms around its middle, moving it around the gameboard. I loved that. The magazine was lost to time, but I remember that one image from that one story.

Eight or ten years later I was in a bookstore and discovered Amphigorey. I recognized the artist's work right away.

Six or eight years further on I was working in a bookstore, remembered that it was a story about shrinking, illustrated by Gorey, and hunted it down. Then I learned that illustration exists only in my mind; Gorey did several similar, but not that one. Despite the trick of memory, I dearly loved that book. Sooner or later I discovered the other adventures of Treehorn, and now I love them, too. I love that no one ever listens to anything Treehorn says, not his best friend, not his parents, not his teacher or principal, no one. that pretty much nails childhood, for me.

Now I also enjoy how fabulously 70s the book is, the green color, the clothes. And how Treehorn adjusts to sudden wealth, and shrinking, and a genie in a bottle. His sang froid is amazing.

I hope everyone has a book from childhood that they loved then, and still love, the way I love this.

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