Welcome to another installment of 31 Days of Halloween! This is our chance to set the mood for the spookiest and scariest month of the year as we focus our attention on horror and Halloween fun. For the month of October we’ll be sharing various pieces of underappreciated scary books, comics, movies, and television to help keep you terrified and entertained all the way up to Halloween.
Uh-oh. Today’s the day that happens once or twice every year, and we dread to see come up on the calendar — it’s Friday the 13th. And you know what that means.
Wait, what does that mean? And why? Explaining that to an unknowing adult might be hard enough, but how do you relate complicated origins and ideas about superstition to a child?
That’s what Douglas Harris aims to do with his new book releasing today, Don’t be Mean to 13: a Triskaidekaphobia Story, which joins a litany of science and skepticism-themed children’s books from Label Free Publishing. It features a foreword from Robyn E. Blumner, President and CEO of the non-profit Center for Inquiry, and Harris’ previous books have been lauded by prominent science communicators such as Cara Santa Maria and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.
You might have heard of Harris’ other work, which includes Elle the Humanist, co-authored by his 12-year-old daughter Elle, and the “Stardust” book series, co-authored by his 17-year-old daughter Bailey. Don’t be Mean to 13 is more of a solo project, focusing on a topic much more limited in scope, which brings its own set of challenges.
The information in Don’t be Mean to 13 is in-depth and wide-reaching. Why exactly western culture developed a fear of the number isn’t exactly clear, but Harris dutifully recounts the likely contributors. The ancient Sumerians and Greeks seemed to have thing for the number 12, so maybe going beyond that ideal just seemed wrong. In Norse mythology, evil was introduced to the world by Loki, the thirteenth guest at dinner in Valhalla. Did you know that the prefix in “friggatriskaidekaphobia,” the fear of Friday the 13th specifically, comes from Frigg, a Norse goddess associated with witchcraft?
And let’s face it, “friggatriskaidekaphobia” is just fun to say. Maybe that’s the kind of thing Don’t be Mean to 13 should have leaned into a little more. The book does ask the reader to repeat these words in a whimsical way, but much of the rest feels more like a lesson. You can understand a more rote, storytelling approach for something like the very successful Elle the Humanist, but a limited concept like this could have perhaps benefited from a rhyme scheme or an identifiable meter that would make the content more memorable.
As it is, without that or a clear narrative, it’s hard to imagine a child asking for this one to be reread, which would help to reinforce the information. Don’t be Mean to 13 does personify the number as a cute, black fuzzball that’s been unfairly shunned, even though it should be celebrated for being special and unique, which probably works to elicit at least some sympathy. The character itself rarely speaking might hinder that from happening as much as it could, though.
Regardless, the world needs more books like Don’t Be Mean to 13. Superstition and other weird beliefs take hold early, when we’re more willing to accept them. Harris is smart to define what superstition is within the first few pages, and to explain why it doesn’t make sense. If schools are hesitant to teach critical thinking skills from an early age, Don’t be Mean to 13 and other efforts like it become even more vital. You won’t regret picking this one up, and joining your kid in a loud refrain of “friggatriskaidekaphobia!”
AIPT Science is co-presented by AIPT and the New York City Skeptics.
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