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Thursday January 7th, 2010

Santa Suggests You Take Off That Beard. Now.

christmas-beardsThanks to The Morning News, I’ve just discovered Curious Pages: Recommended inappropriate books for kids. At the bottom of the home page is this disclaimer:

Looking for books about teddy bears or rainbows or feelings? You’re at the wrong place. Here we celebrate the offbeat, the abstract, the unusual, the surreal, the macabre, the inappropriate, the subversive and the funky.

But the site is a lot more welcoming than that makes it sound. And the gems it has found are something special, like One Thousand Christmas Beards by Roger Duvoisin (1955), in which Santa Claus goes on a spree to rip the beard off anyone impersonating him. Sample text:

There were more, many more false Santas!
When Santa had pulled all their false beards,
and frightened them all into hiding,
he was ready to ride back home.

Santa stomps a dude when he has to.

Also over the holiday, the site put together a fantastically charming collection of wintry images from children’s books. Enjoy.