With Papa off to sea and Mama despondent, Ida must go outside over there to rescue her baby sister from goblins who steal her to be a goblin's bride.
*** [When Papa was away at sea, and Mama in the arbor, Ida played her wonder horn to rock the baby still] ***(HarperCollins, 22 April 1981, hardback, 40 pages, bought from Amazon, Popsugar 2018 Reading Challenge, a childhood classic you've never read)
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I really enjoyed Outside over There. It's a beautifully illustrated picture book. The illustrations on each page are bright, vivid and very detailed. The story is quite dark and scary, an innocent child stolen by goblins to be one of their bride's. It even tackles the subject of depression in Mama's character. Apparently, this inspired the movie Labyrinth. I've seen the movie years ago but don't really see many similarities between the book and movie. The scary story doesn't always sit well with the beautiful artwork. I can imagine a parent reading their child Outside over There but not a very young child as the scary story would be too much for them. I can see why this won award and is considered a classic. I would have loved Outside Over There as a child. I was born the year the book came out so never got to enjoy it. My mother wasn't the story reading kind of parent.