children’s literature

  • Little Miss Muffet (1880s)

    Little Miss Muffet (1880s)

    Francis Donkin Bedford (English, 1864–1954)

    A girl in a blue dress sits startled, her bowl overturned. A spider dangles nearby—its legs outstretched, poised to land. The scene hums with childhood fear, that split-second before a scream.