Rating: 
Summary: Simple, funny, weird.
Review: Weird little drawings, morbid little verse. I saw, I baught, I read, I liked.
Rating: 
Summary: A beautifully morbid book of bedtime stories.
Review: This is a book that I will read to my children for years to come. It's pictures are adorably dreary and filled with emotion. My favorite story would have to be the story of Oyster Boy...it almost brought a tear to my eye. Tim Burton is a genious. I urge you to buy this book and read it each night on your way into dreamland.
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite Gorey
Review: Although I love the irreverent films of Tim Burton, his new book seems a little too contrived, practicly mimicking the classic Edward Gorey style of The GashlyCrumbTinies. The illustrations are definitely worth the twenty bucks. I'm going to stick to his movies from now on though.
Rating:
Summary: Great, though twisted, yet cute at the same time
Review: It was wonderful! Twisted little poems with gorey-like illustrations. Typical Tim Burton.
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Summary: "Oyster Boy" is Shel Silverstein on crack
Review: Tim Burton has always had a fondness for outsiders, characters who are rejected from society. In his creations such as "Edward Scissorhands" and the "The Nightmare Before Christmas", his characters achieve a certain elegance, finally rising above what society mandates to live their lives. Edward S. gets the girl, Jack remains the pumpkin king. In "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories", Burton shows us the darker side of things, characters like Oyster Boy, Roy the Toxic Boy, and Stain Boy who are different, but unlike Edward and Jack, don't find happiness. But there is still the same Burton flair, the simple beauty of the Boy with Nails in his Eyes, who tried to decorate a tree but couldn't do it right because he couldn't see. The stories are told a la children's bedtime yarns, but these tales aren't for kids--instead, these are fascinating insights into the mind of one of the greatest creative talents of the past two decades. Burton draws elegantly and simply, with oversized heads, grotesque bodies, and spacy eyes, but nothing else could convey his dark visions better. His stories are short and to the point, some of them lasting only a sentence or two. His brevity is the one fault of the book...Burton could have made it twice as long and twice as enjoyable had he expanded a bit on the hideous penguin boy and other trite tales that left me wanting more. But still, Burton shows yet more wondrous talent oozing from his brain. I especially like the girl who stares at you for no reason. She just stares. Of course, none of these characters are real, but then that's the key to Burton's genius. We've all met the staring girl before, once in our lives, and Stain Boy, and Oyster Boy, and Robot Boy, and the Girl who Turned into a Bed. While we haven't met them literally, they exist within each of us, grotesque, horrid images of humanity that Burton has thankfully allowed us to see.
Rating:
Summary: A bizarre treat in this world of tricks!
Review: When I came across this book, I was quite excited, as I am an admirer of Tim Burton's films. Mr. Burton has already made an entry in the publishing field with The Nightmare Before Christmas , (which he illustrated as well). With The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy, Burton proves, again, that a tortured psyche is often the most intriguing! Sad, eeirily compelling quick glimpses of misifts and nature's whimsy make up the contents of this book, illustrated by Burton. I reccomend this for anyone with an apprecation for the unique.
Rating:
Summary: MASTERPIECE!!!
Review: OYSTER BOY is a gem that you all must have. I have the book sitting atop my bureau because I simply adore this bizarre and beautiful masterpiece. If you need something unique and worthy to stuff someone's Christmas stocking this year, get this book with no question - its perfectly sized and it will be definitely treasured for years.
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Summary: A wonderful look at a collection of freakish children
Review: "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy: and Other Stories" is a compilation of bizarre tales of "freakish" adolescents. And only Tim Burton can do this well. If you look at his work in film it is essentially a showcase of freaks. From "Batman," "Edward Scissorhands," and Jack Skelington (from "A Nightmare Before Christmas"), his world is full of abnormal personalities. And "...Oyster Boy..." is just full of strange characters. One such character, Robot Boy has the misfortune of being born as a robot to a not-so-happy human couple. Almost all of the tales are tragic, but there is a touch of humor in this tragedy. Every character has a trait that sets him/her off from the rest of the world and this trait sometime leads to the characters demise-- like Oyster Boy (I'm not giving anything away that has not been suggested in the title). Burton also illustrated "...Oyster Boy..." The drawings, though simple in appearance, could not have been done better by anyone else. It seems hard to believe that Burton once worked at Disney as an animator when looking at his illustrations. His drawings are unique. "A Nightmare Before Christmas" is essentially a 3-D adaptation of his drawings. "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy" can be enjoyed by people of any age. Some material may be too "dark" for young kids. For example, I would never read "Robot Boy" or "...Death of Oyster Boy" to a young child. The real father of Robot Boy is revealed to be a "mechanical devise of sorts." Let your imagination wander ever so slightly and you will understand. But there are still some charming tales for young readers. "Stain Boy" is yet another superheroe Burton has developed. Instead of dressing up as a bat or leaping tall buildings in a single bound, Stain Boy leaves stains. Its rather funny if you think about it long enough. On a final note, "...Oyster Boy..." can be summed up as a what if. What if Dr, Seuss and Clive Barker could somehow swap DNA (yes we all know Dr. Seuss has passed on, but this is for an analogy). The offspring would probably be very close to that of Tim Burton. After all, "...Oyster Boy..." is told in a narrative not dissimilar to that of Dr. Seuss'.
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Summary: Good old scary FUN!
Review: If you are a Tim Burton fan, get this book. It's a collection of fun & demented poems about outcasts and outsiders that makes you feel better knowing you're not in their situations. The book is oddly formatted. Some pages have like one line of verse and a picture on the adjacent side. The book looks like it is written for children, but I don't know if any kids would understand or enjoy it as a young adult like me did. The illustrations gave me the creeps, but they didnt frighten me out of my skin. They are sort of fun, yet disturbing at the same time. I highly recommend this book!
Rating:
Summary: Super
Review: This book is the most imaginative thing i have ever read. Not only did i enjoy the artwork i also enjoyed something i never have enjoyed before...POETRY! He made it so fun to read each story. Granted it took me a grand total of fifteen minutes to read the whole thing i still loved every story it had to offer! I hope Tim expresses his poetic genius again very soon!
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