The Adventures of Gremlin

In DuPre Jones’s far-fetched fairy tale The Adventures of Gremlin, Edward Gorey’s whimsical illustrations accompany a plucky little girl named Gremlin on a journey through the wide world. Alongside her perpetually-expiring brother Zeppelin, Gremlin takes on the requisite Enchanted Forest and Fairy Godmother, but also an inn full of doom-and-gloom beatniks, a peevish wombat, a poet whose limericks probe the meaning of life, and a flightless parrot who spouts Latin. Anything but a fainthearted waif, Gremlin takes surprises and setbacks in stride, retaining her innocence and good humor all the while. The Adventures of Gremlin is an entirely inappropriate book for all ages and one of Gorey’s most underrated creative collaborations.

Pomegranate, 2014. Hardcover.