It can be difficult to find children’s books that are equally entertaining for both me and my kids. Generally I find kids books mind-numbing, but we can usually agree on Dr. Seuss. So that’s why Australian illustrator R.J. Ivankovic aka Dr. Faustus’ re-imagining of H.P. Lovecraft classics as Dr. Seuss books has me fucking stoked. He takes works like The Call of Cthulu that have inspired so many of us and turns them into really amazing adaptations that are brilliantly Seussian in nature. The Call of Cthulu is now in print from Chaosium and you can pick it up here, but he also has a ton of other adaptations in the works that you can see in his Deviantart gallery. Check out an excerpt from his version of The Call of Cthulu below and tell me you won’t be reading this to your kids every night!
From Chaosium:
After the death of his great-uncle, Francis Wayland Thurston delves into the late Professor Angell’s effects…
I was sorting through
all his research one day,
when I found a monstrosity
made out of clay.Spurred on by his curiosity, Francis learns of many terrible things. The artist who came to his uncle for help. A raid in the Louisiana swamps, led by Inspector Legrasse. The sailor Gustaf Johansen. And, perhaps most importantly, the horrible fate of the Emma.
The most merciful thing
in the world, I believe,
is humanity’s failure
to fully conceive
of the cosmical horrors
we’ve yet to reveal,
and which up until now
I have tried to concealThis 102-page adaption of H.P. Lovecraft’s classic story was written and illustrated by R.J. Ivankovic.
View the rest on Dr. Faustus’ Deviantart.
