Eerie Dearies: 26 Ways to Miss School by Rebecca Chaperon (2014).
Curious why an ABC book is one for the older set? Because it’s dark. It’s creepy in the best way (think Edward Gorey). And it’s filled with wild excuses to miss school! All topics for a slightly older someone (or much older someone!).
It requires a brave reader such as yourself.
And even if one knows her ABCs, this book has lots of advanced concepts and words. You’ll see.
Take A for example. It’s for Astral Projection. Of course it is! Sorry teachers, but I’m having an out of body experience today.
(click image(s) to enlarge.)
B is for a broken heart. (See, this book is perfect for teenagers.)
There’s Dumbstruck, Ennui (my personal favorite), Gremlins, and Juvenile delinquent. And it ends with Z for zombie apocalypse. Not your average ABC, right? In fact, it’s inventive and strange and will appeal to any creative spirit.
Rebecca Chaperon‘s artistic style is sure to please as well: painterly and delicate and exquisite in every way. I love how she incorporated vintage books as backgrounds into the illustrations of quite vintage looking girls.
“While creating the images for the book I collected a great deal of old book covers looking for colours, textures and in some cases, titles, that would inspire the illustrations for Eerie Dearies. I scavenged second-hand shops examining the outer and inner covers of the books to find the right amount of ratty-ness, out-dated design and the general patina of age!”
— RebeccaChaperon
“Perhaps my favourite reason for missing school was ‘Snow Day.’ As anyone who grew up with cold snowy winters will tell you: there are days when things just shut down. Buses, schools, teachers. In the morning, If the weather seemed bad, my parents would turn on the radio. My brother and I would sit at the kitchen table, silently eating cereal and listening with such concentration to the radio list of each school that would be closed for the day. And of course if we heard them say our school we would absolutely freak out with happiness and then spend the day playing in the snow!”
— RebeccaChaperon
Thanks to Rebecca Chaperon for images!
See more of her artwork from the book in her shop. And her other original art. Another bonus: she’s got special edition versions of the book that come signed and with stickers on her website!!
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Simply Read Books generously provided one copy of Eerie Dearies for one lucky reader! And Rebecca Chaperon, because she’s so great, threw in some artwork as well. And she’s packaged it up with all the class and artistry you’d expect!
The grand prize winner will receive the book, Eerie Drearies and two prints
&
two winners will receive two prints by Rebecca Chaperon!
Three winners in all!
Here’s how to enter the giveaway:
1.) Sign up for Rebecca Chaperon’s newsletter here.
2.) Sign up for This Picture Book Life‘s new and improved newsletter here.
3.) Leave a comment on this post with a way you once missed a day of school.
I’ll contact the randomly chosen winners by email for your mailing addresses!
(Enter until Wednesday, June 25 at midnight; open to North American residents only—sorry about that, far flung international readers!)
i once missed a day of high school because my hair didn’t come out right. i remember sitting in front of my mirror, curling iron in hand, desperately trying to make things okay. i remember the cheap mascara running down my cheeks as i looked at myself and thought, over and over again, “i’m so ugly, so ugly, so ugly.”
my mom came in to rush me to get ready and she saw that i was, literally and figuratively, a mess.
thankfully, she decided to let me stay home. i went into our tiny bathroom, washed my face, dunked my head in the sink so i didn’t have to look at the damage any more, and crawled back into my bed, where i slept until noon.
ah, the days of self-loathing are behind me now. but i swear to my children, if they ever need a day off because something isn’t working–either inside or outside them–then i will be the one to give it to them. and i will tuck them back into their beds, and close the door quietly behind me.
Holly, this is heartbreaking! But, yeah, we all needed a day off school for something like that. In my case, it would’ve been a new pimple (or 5).
Our “snow days” growing up in Atlanta were “ice storm days” instead–thoroughly dreary weather events with no possibility for outdoor play and random loss of electricity. But once in second or third grade a friend from school and his mother came and camped out at our house–they had lost power and we hadn’t–and we spent the whole day immersed in a closet full of comic books. Best ice storm day ever.
That sounds awesome.
Exquisite!! Sharing.
Thank you, Ronna! I felt pretty lucky getting to give away this one.
In fourth grade I had to write a report about Queen Elizabeth. I knew I had to write a report. On Queen Elizabeth. And yet, on the due date, I had nothing. At 4 am I started full-on panicking. My mother found me near hyperventilation, and I confessed my complete and total lack of having done my work. And so (in a move I’m not sure, in retrospect, I approve of, although I approved wholeheartedly at the time) I stayed home and spent the day writing my report about Queen Elizabeth. And eating chocolate chip cookie dough.
I had to miss school because of a terrible thunder, rain storm and the Mom Person didn’t want to deal with a wet dog at school! The principal asked her if a sub was needed for me. Now I always go – rain or shine!
Looks lovely!
I had to miss school because my mom was having a surgery one time. I just neglected to mention to my teachers that the surgery was very minor…and that she was in and out within an hour.
I missed school due to a case of the chicken pox. It also happened to be the day of the school talent show, where I was slated to sing “Nobody Likes Me (Guess I’ll Go Eat Worms)” dressed as a chicken along with my best buddy. She went on solo. I should probably let her borrow this book if I win for bringing this whole incident back up… 🙂 LOVE your beautiful blog Danielle!
I left school early in kindergarten thinking we had been dismissed when we had actually been told to go out to play for recess. . .walked home all by myself!
We have winners! Rina and Julie are the winners of two prints by Rebecca Chaperon! And Martina is the winner of EERIE DREARIES and artwork! Congratulations and thanks to all who entered!!
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