Staying home for nearly nine months has turned my eyes to anything which can be removed from my house. So, I went to my husband's room to select books to be sold or donated and it was where I found "Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children."
It's a book my husband and his brother (both living in Japan) bought more than ten years ago for their niece Ruth. Ruth, then six years old, travelled from California (where she was living with her mother) to Tokyo by herself to see her uncles. Her two uncles were so excited that they took her to Tokyo Disneyland and a bookstore where they bought the book, which she chose, assuming that it was just a picture book for kids. So, how did this book end up in one of her uncle's room years later?
What happened was that after paying, her younger uncle (i.e., my husband's brother) skimmed through the 13 stories, finding them "inappropriate" for six-year-olds and took the book away!! Ruth had no chance to read it.
Reading these stories now again, I also can't help but agree with that decision. And this reminds me that a mystery novel I first read is "The Greene Murder Case" by S. S. Van Dine, which a maternal great aunt of mine had bought for me when I was also six years old.
I don't remember why I chose this crime mystery where at least two are murdered, but remember that the book cover had a drawing of a young woman wearing a white negligee covered in blood and her eyes were wide open with terror... The great auntie said nothing, however, and this is how I started to read not only U.S., but also UK, French and Japanese mystery novels.
A six-year-old in the U.S. chose "Creepy Susie," while another in Japan "The Greene Murder Case," and both are "normal" grown-ups now😁! Being interested in (not actually) killing others may be a necessary step to be "normal" persons...
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ステイホームが続き、断捨離の毎日です。そんなある日、主人の部屋で「Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children」という絵本を見つけました。
もう10年以上前に主人と彼の弟が、アメリカから一人で日本にやって来た6歳の姪に買ってあげた本です。じゃあ、なぜ主人の部屋にあるのか？いやいや買ってあげたまではよかったのですが、買った後、中身を見て結局取り上げてしまったんです。
日本語版がないのでご興味ある方は英語版をどうぞとしか言えないのですが、確かに子供にはちょっと｡｡｡ そういえば私も6歳の時に「グリーン家殺人事件」を大叔母に買ってもらったのですが、表紙は血だらけの女性でした。止められた記憶はないのですが｡｡｡
米国の6歳児と日本の6歳児。6歳児って人殺しにそんなに興味があるのかしら。今は二人ともまとも😁な大人です。まともな大人になるために必要な過程なんですかね｡｡｡
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