Happy Birthday, Edward Gorey!

“Hang her in chains over a slow fire,” said one of the boys. Evidently they had been reading English history. “Frow her down and the pigs will d’vour her, every bit ’cept the palms of her hands,” said the other boy. It was also evident that they had studied Biblical history. The last proposal was the one which most alarmed Octavian, since it might be carried into effect at a moment’s notice; there had been cases, he remembered, of pigs eating babies.

“You surely wouldn’t treat my poor little Olivia in that way?” he pleaded. “You killed our little cat,” came in stern reminder from three throats. “I’m very sorry I did,” said Octavian, and if there is a standard of measurement in truths Octavian’s statement was assuredly a large nine.

“We shall be very sorry when we’ve killed Olivia,” said the girl, “but we can’t be sorry till we’ve done it.”

—Saki, “The Pennance,” from The Unrest-Cure and Other Stories, illustrated by Edward Gorey

Edward Gorey was born February 22nd, 1915. Let’s remember him the way he’d like, with a man in tweeds begging three English children not to end the life of his daughter in the most horrible ways possible. (It might be hard to believe, but this story has a heartwarming ending.)

By the way, we now publish a full seven books that Edward Gorey contributed to in some way (either by illustrating, editing, writing, or some combination of these roles).

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The Titanosaur has arrived at the American Museum of Natural History! At 122-feet tall and 19-feet tall, this prehistoric creature dwarfs even the tallest people (can you see the three tiny visitors in this picture?)

How did this dinosaur come to be at the Museum? Read the story.