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Rather than terrifying the boots off you, these two gentle yet energetic picture books caper around the Halloween spirit whilst addressing themes of responsibility, friendship and teamwork at the same time. A perfect opportunity to share some magic, cheeky giggles and affection with your little ones.   The Witch’s Britches, P.Crumble (author), Lucinda Gifford (illus.), […]

Discover five of Cartoon Brew's favorite creepy classics, based upon the literary works of Edgar Allen Poe, Franz Kafka, and more.

Looking for some new Halloween books to share with young readers? Here are two recent releases that would make fun read-a-louds:

BOO-LA-LA Witch Spa, written by Samantha Berger and illustrated by Isabel Roxas (Penguin Random House):

 and THE GHOSTS GO SPOOKING, written by Chrissy Bozik and illustrated by Patricia Storms (Scholastic Canada):

The Graves Family

By Patricia Polacco

Patricia Polacco has written beautifully in her picture books about what it means to be an “outsider.”

Many of her books were based, it seems, on her hometown of Union City, Michigan.

And “The Graves Family” is no exception as there appears to be a real “Graves” house in Union City, and Ms. Polacco invites “visitors from all over the country to a Haunted House there every fall.”

The cover flap of “The Graves Family”  truncates the message of her book quite nicely when it suggests, “Don’t fear differences…celebrate them,” coupled with a quote tucked away that states:

 

 

“Those who march to a different

    drum are in a magnificent band indeed!

 

And Ms. Polacco very nicely intersperses this message into her lively tale of the Graves family who move into “the creaky old house on the hill.” They don’t quite fit into the neighborhood. In fact they move in under cover of night. The Graves are, well, a mite different to say the least; some might even venture to offer the opinion, creepy different.

And so might young neighbors Seth and Sara Miller have said, had they not taken the time to get to know and befriend Hieronymus Graves, son of  Dr. Doug and Shalleaux Graves, scientist/inventor and gourmet cook, respectively.

Hieronymus, plus four carrot topped siblings named Billicent, Cintilla, Congolia and Tondileo are new to the neighborhood and getting the leery once-over from the locals who are loathe to get acquainted.  Great name choice for the kids, by the way.

The Miller kids easily nickname Hieronymus, Ronnie, and both find, through a series of adventures, that the Graves are quite the likable lot – and oddly interesting, too.

But, they are anything but run of the mill, as Dr. Doug Graves counts entomology or the study of insects as one of his hobbies, and spiders in particular.

And, as it turns out that very characteristic of “far from the everyday” turns to the Graves family’s advantage as it helps snatch triumph from the jaws of disaster with the arrival of the famous Christopher Joel.

Sent from the magazine, Ladies Lovely Home Companion, he also just happens to have “the most popular television show on home decorating.”

And the snooty matrons of the Union City Auxiliary Ladies Garden Club fairly salivate at the odd chance their house might be picked for his Fall Home Show.

Whatever could stand in the way? Young picture book readers can probably sense a plethora of potential pitfalls a page away. And they’d be right!

Will the Graves family ever win town acceptance, or dare they even hope, approval? Will their house make the grade in the contest, or will disaster ensue?

Patricia Polacco’s “The Graves Family” proves not only a fine and festive hauntingly lively Halloween read, but skillfully makes the point that it’s great to have flavors in life; be it food…or people.

And so much the better if they happen to be served at a Graves’ dinner table filled with:

 

Great New Zealand Land Vipers with

Capers and Clotted Cream

 

Boiled Blistered Variegated Turnip

Root

 

Pureed Lampfish Fins with Bees’

Knees and Guppy Fillets

Life, and dinner at the Graves house may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it is uniquely their own and most certainly worth a try, which is Ms. Polacco’s very convincing, and hilariously hidden point.

Please pass those Indonesian Snarling Knishes au Gratin, if you please, and I’ll have seconds on the Octopus Knuckles from Tibet, thank you very much.

This is a picture book young readers will devour.

And if you’re smart, please remember to feed Phoebe, the family Venus flytrap first. She adores Beetle Leg Jell-O with Fly Carcass!

*******************************************************

And here’s the perfect soundtrack to get you in the mood for a Haunted House!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBFNEAT_HIQ&app=desktop

Photo and vignette by Vicky Lorencen

In the spirit of this spooky season, I bring you ten more frightening thoughts for writers . . .

What if . . .

1. Your face turned bright green and you sprouted purple horns whenever you experienced writer’s block.
2. All editors expected you to pitch new projects using interpretive dance or mime.
3. Chocolate was only available by prescription.
4. Rejection letters were delivered by scrolling message at the bottom of the TV screen during “The Voice.”
5. You must do a school visit dressed in nothing but a beige body suit and a giant cowboy hat.
6. Your cat writes a bestseller with a main character who looks/sounds/acts exactly like you–down to the last cat-observed detail.
7. Your cat sells movie rights to this very revealing bestseller.
8. The first movie is a blockbuster and there is immediate demand for a sequel.
9. Your cat locks you out of the house. Reporters are on your front lawn.
10. You’re experiencing writer’s block that day. (See number 1.)

Halloween shadows played upon the walls of the houses. In the sky the Halloween moon raced in and out of the clouds. The Halloween wind was blowing, not a blasting of wind but a right-sized swelling, falling, and gushing of wind. It was a lovely and exciting night, exactly the kind of night Halloween should be. ~ Eleanor Estes, The Witch Family

This post was originally posted October 14, 2014.

Halloween is right around the corner. There’s no better way to celebrate than by reading books that will scare you to pieces! Here’s a lucky thirteen list of our favorites (all featuring diverse characters or by diverse authors):

1. Half World by Hiromi Goto – Melanie Tamaki lives with her mother in abject poverty. Then, her mother disappears. Melanie must journey to the mysterious Half World to save her.
2. Vodnik by Bryce Moore – Sixteen-year-old Tomas moves back to Slovakia with his family and discovers the folktales of his childhood were more than just stories.
3. The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa – Allie Sekemoto survives by scavenging for food by day. She hates the vampires who keep humans like cattle for their food. Until the day she dies and wakes up as a vampire.
4. Liar by Justine Larbalestier – Micah is a liar; it’s the only thing she’ll tell you the truth about. But when her boyfriend Zach is murdered, the whole truth has to come out.
5. Battle Royale by Koushan Takami – A group of junior high school students are sent to an island and forced to fight to the death until only one of them survives.
6. Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall – Odilia and her sisters discover a dead man’s body while swimming in the Rio Grande. They journey across Mexico to return his body in this Odyssey-inspired tale.
7. Devil’s Kiss by Sarwat Chadda – Zombies, ghouls, and vampires all make appearances in the story of Bilquis SanGreal, the youngest and only female member of the Knights Templar.
8. Panic by Sharon Draper – Diamond knows better than to get into a car with a stranger. But when the stranger offers her the chance to dance in a movie, Diamond makes a very wrong decision.
9. Ten by Gretchen McNeil – Ten teens head to a secluded island for an exclusive party…until people start to die. A modern YA retelling of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.
10. Wolf Mark by Joseph Bruchac – Inspired by the Abenaki skinwalker legend, this YA thriller is Burn Notice with werewolves.
11. The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco – A dead girl roams the streets, hunting murders. A strange tattooed boy moves to the neighborhood with a deadly secret.
12. 172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad –  Three teenagers win the vacation of a lifetime: a week-long trip to the moon. But something sinister is waiting for them in the black vacuum of space.
13. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake – Cas Lowood is a ghost hunter, called to Thunder Bay, Ontario to get rid of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, who has killed every person who has stepped foot in the house she haunts.

What else would you add to the list?

Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie

from the National Geographic Kids series

By Jill Esbaum

There have been plenty of fall weekends this October, and several more to go, where families can go pumpkin picking.

Kids love to forage in fields for the “perfect pumpkin.” And, for each child, this perfectness will, in their minds, vary from the tiny to the titanic.

And, along with corn maizes and the onset of kid friendly “agra-entertainment”, is the ability post or pre pumpkin pick, to settle down for a quiet moment with a child and perhaps a picture  book about this worthy squash called the pumpkin.

If your young reader is loaded with questions such as, “How did my pumpkin grow?”, then this book from the National Geographic Kids Series, is a fine start for the youngest among us.

Its simple wording and accompanying bright photos of a pumpkin’s beginnings from seeds tucked into the “sun-warmed earth,” gets this pumpkin lesson off to a grand start.

Pretty soon the young reader is looking at a seed softened into a sprout by spring rains. Next, tangled vines protrude above the dirt and bright yellow flowers allow bees to spread their pollen from flower to flower.

And it’s a small leap to those knobs that form, morphing over time into pumpkins.

Here, at the farm, we saw firsthand how those cool October nights arrived, and those pumpkin vines fairly shriveled, and left in their wake, a veritable plethora of pumpkins.

Your young reader will marvel while turning  pumpkin filled pages showing the variety, size, and color of pumpkins that are part of this squash family contingent.

Did you know that they can be green, red, tan, yellow, white, and even blue? Though the ubiquitous orange pumpkin is probably known best by kids, they all are photographed in profusion in Jill Esbaum’s colorful read.

Found in varied sizes, my favorite pumpkin picture in her book are three men, each in a ginormous hollowed out pumpkin, paddling along in the water in their pumpkin boats.

She points out that that, though hollow inside, and full of stringy goo, the seeds of next year’s crop can be found inside.

Our family has a tradition when we carve our jack o’ lanterns, that each and every member put their hand inside the carved pumpkins and haul out a handful of the goop for luck. We’ve even mailed a small handful to members that couldn’t be there in person. We’re traditionalists; what more need be said?

And for the purists, and do it “from scratch,” souls, there are the suggestions and pictures of the pies, breads, desserts and soups thatmay emanate from the venerable pumpkin.

Pictures of jolly jack o’ lanterns, with toothy grins, are in evidence, as well as the important note that unused pumpkins may be used to feed animals on a farm, or left in the field to nourish the soil. Many an unwanted pumpkin has nourished our fields. Sniff Sniff.

Provide your young reader with a window into the cycle of the pumpkin and how, if we are careful, nothing is wasted. Instead, this past season’s pumpkins feed the growth cycle next spring as “Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie” gives a simple and salient homage to the “pumpkin moonshine” in your child’s future.

Turning the pages before or after your trek to the pumpkin field, is well worth a look at this pumpkin info book.

Happy pumpkin hunting!

Halloween is…

By Gail Gibbons

Kirkus Reviews said of this book, “A treat, rather than a trick.” And I agree wholeheartedly.

If you’ve never read the picture books,  “Halloween is…”,  “Thanksgiving is…” and Christmas is…” by Gail Gibbons, they are a true treat of a trio, and I’ll be taking time for each, in turn, as the holiday season kicks in.

“Halloween is..” is a perfect introduction to this day devoted to carved pumpkins and  costumed trick or treaters. For a young reader, “Halloween is…” gives a smidgen of the history of the celebration, how it emerged in significance, and the holiday and holy day aspects of it, with All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day part of its historical  and religious mix.

Added in, of course, are the Halloween symbols writ large in today’s culture. Kids will enjoy listening to the fable of selfish Jack of the Lantern who morphed into Jack o’Lantern,” carrying his “shining coal inside a turnip he had carved, …trying to find heaven.” Kids may remember this story as they hollow out their own pumpkins this Halloween.

Halloween decorations, masks and costumes, bats, black cats, skeletons, scary story times, games, parties, parades and more are delightfully covered in her words and pictures.

Gail Gibbons’ dedication at the outset is: “To Halloween Fun and Trick-or-Treaters” is fully realized in this fact filled, fun read.

Ms. Gibbons has put together a wonderfully colorful book that includes a delightful overview of all the elements that meld spookily together, come October 31, to make Halloween a special treat for young readers.

The Switch Witch and the Magic of Switchcraft is actually a beautiful gift set that includes a Switch Witch doll and a storybook centered on the Switch Witch character.

Volume three in the wonderful Nuggies series, A Very Scary Pumpkin, finds Chomper and Coco—the dogs known as the Nuggies—moving into a new home.

Boo-La-La: Witch Spa

By Samantha Berger; illustrated by Isabel Roxas

Remember what it feels like as parents the day after Halloween? “Spent” is a pretty good descriptive word to describe the feeling. After the endless costume searches, looking for that last accoutrement to complete the costume, stocking up on treats for the doorbell ringers on October 31st, and the door to door march, parents are pretty well pooped.

Imagine how witches feel the day after the Big Day? Maybe they need a day at a spa to be pampered, perfumed and fussed over.

Samantha Berger, in her picture book, “Boo-La-La: Witch Spa,” has imagined the perfect getaway for witches that need a day away.

What with the cackling, cooking up of spells and general haunting flights on moonlit nights, a witch needs a day to recoup and Bo-La-La is the perfect spot for the put upon witch. And nothing is overlooked at Ms. Berger’s Boo-La-La Spa.

Greeted by gnomes at the door, a witch will find herself immersed in any number of tantalizing treatments.

Toadstool and skunk scented candles set the mood as you enter. Ensconced in a fake  yeti fur robe, it is on to the treatments of choice, be they:

Broom Bristle Facials

 

Pumpkin Gut Masks

 

Serpent Spit Spritzers

 

Scalp Rubs by Spiders

or any number of other things that are, as they say, “Fab-Boo,” to any witch that needs to rejuvenate.

Soaking in cauldrons of mold, an Eye of Newt Wrap, and a Skin Scrub done by a willing Scarab beetle, is the living end. Dragons breath saunas are deeply relaxing with a Stone Massage administered by a Hag; highly skilled, but of course.

Believe me, Georgette Klinger, Elizabeth Arden, The Golden Door and Sonoma Inn and Spa have nothing on this witch wonder treatment facility.

And what would a proper spa be without a healthful luncheon of Hex Mex and Jinx Drinks accompanied by Candy Corn Flan.

Hair care is an absolute must; what will the wind blowing through it on high flying broomsticks. So, a bit of Black Widow Oil deep condition and a uplift of green highlights and lowlights, do wonders for the “spirits.”

Finally, carting off a collection of “perfumes, powders and potions” to keep up the effect at home, or hovel, this cutie witch newly transformed, finds:

 

     Her heart’s filled with joy and her soul with laughter.

she cannot believe the before and the after!

 She leaves the Witch Spa, feeling like a Witch Queen

 and vows to come back after next Halloween!  

 

Ms. Berger, author of “Crankenstein” and “Snoozefest,” has captured the cadence and companionable allure of the Witch Spa named Boo-La-La, allowing picture book readers a view at what young witches do on the day after, the day after, All Hallows Eve!

Sign me up.

But, I think I’ll pass on the “Made at Midnight” hair color choice with glittery stars done in Silver Moonlight. Sounds Fab-Boo, but maybe a bit too much!

Scaredy Cat Series: Charles Reasoner Halloween Books Written by Charles Reasoner Picture Window Books   8/01/2015 978-1-4795-8501-4 12 pages    6″ X 6″    Age 0—2 . “BLACK CAT, SCAREDY CAT. WHERE WILL YOU GO? As you prowl beneath The moon’s spooky glow? “Don’t let Halloween Kitty spook you! A black cat is anything but …

Otter Loves Halloween! Written and Illustrated by Sam Garton Balzer + Bray     7/21/2015 978-0-06-236666-5 32 pages    Age 4—8 .               .           .            .“Hi! I am Otter. “Halloween is the best holiday ever! It is also a …

These halloween books, or, perhaps, more aptly labeled as books perfect for Halloween, do an excellent job of evoking the Halloween spirit ... Read the rest of this post

A Woggle of Witches

By Adrienne Adams

Halloween has morphed slowly from a night out for trick or treaters into a huge holiday in the United States. And so, as the run up to All Hallows Eve begins, here’s a Way Back Wednesday picture book gem from the early 70’s.

I was curious about the term “woggle” from Adrienne Adams’ title, called “A Woggle of Witches.” Seems a “woggle” as defined in the dictionary is the thing that attaches neckerchiefs. If you have a Boy Scout in the family, or love scarves, you will know what I mean.

But my husband ventured that the title infers more a “gaggle” or gathering, than anything else. That’s what I think too.

Your young reader will love the haunting atmosphere created in Adams’  wood full of witches, lounging in hammocks amid the treetops on All Hallows Eve.

 

“On a certain night, when the moon is high,

one calls, “Wake up. Time for the feast is come.”

 

And feast the witches do …on bat stew.

Then, it’s a quick hop on a broom to circle the moon on a cloudless flight.

Adrienne Adams’atmospheric and mood-filled art of witches winging their way skyward, in formations Blue Angel pilots would envy, is fanciful and fun. Her use of color in green, black, yellow and purple makes this Halloween holiday woggle witch gathering a reading trip to enjoy with your young readers this season.

And its ending is sure to please with its “who really scares who” scenario as the woggle stumbles upon a “woogle” of young trick or treaters in a cornfield.

     “Let’s get out of here!”they cry.

     All quivering and quaking,

     they leapt on their brooms,

     and slant toward the sky.”

“A Woggle of Witches” by Adrienne Adams is a Halloween sweet treat picture book not to be missed.

*Here’s a link to another favorite witch of mine. She’s a witch called Hazel that appeared in this 1952 cartoon called “Trick or Treat,”with Donald Duck’s nephews named Huey, Dewey and Louie.

Donald wants to trick, but Hazel gets the nephews their treats in a witchy way.

Boo!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-6LvIJKb_E

Turkey Trick or Treat Written by Wendi Silvano Illustrated by Lee Harper Two Lions    8/11/2015 978-1-4778-7503-2 32 pages       Age 4—8 “Everyone loves Halloween candy—even Turkey. But how can he and his barnyard friends get any when the farmers only give it out children? With a costume, of course! As his pals …