How to use this Page

Woot!  I’ve scraped and saved and slavered and after a couple weeks have culled together enough videos to constitute a truly lovely Video Sunday.  And since Halloween is near upon us (a holiday I will, strangely enough, be spending at an outside wedding in Maine) why not begin with the king of frightening children’s literature himself, Stephen Gammell.  Mental Floss recently released a post called 14 Terrifying Facts About Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.  Fine and good but the link to the documentary caught my particular eye . . .

Scary Stories (Official Trailer) from Cody Meirick on Vimeo.

As did the video they linked to showing how illustrator Stephen Gammell does his art.  Pretty amazing to see in process.

This next one’s a hoot. Author Steve Sheinkin, when he isn’t creating a comic styled interview series or writing National Book Award short list nominees is, apparently, doing some killer LEGO book trailers as well. Check this out. And since it features Nixon, yes indeed there is some slightly salty language.

Another book trailer, and this time for a book that I certainly hope will be getting some awards soon. The Martin Scorsese blurb is a nice touch.

That tune just slays me.

This next one is timed nicely with the Alice in Wonderland 150th anniversary.  It discusses Alice Hargreaves (the real Alice)’s trip to Columbia University in the 30s and has some very nice interviews with some of today’s Alice experts. It mentions things like a picture of Alice that was published in Punch before the book was officially published.  Be sure to get to the part where you can hear the real Alice’s voice.

For more information, just go here.

Writing parodies come.  Writing parodies go.  But writing parodies where the singer is thoroughly easy on the ears and parodies one of my favorite songs?  That’s just gravy.  As such . . .

Thanks to Watch. Connect. Read. for the link.

Add a Comment

Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark have raised goosebumps in many a child. (The truly spooky illustrations by Stephen Gammell add to the shiver factor.)  But Schwartz also compiled two collections of scary stories for those just learning to read.

In a Dark, Dark Room introduces beginning readers to scary men with long teeth, a ribbon-wearing girl with a secret, and a driver passing a cemetery who stops to pick up a young boy on a rainy night, among others.














Ghosts! continues the shivery suspense with stories about spirits from another realm. In the collection a boy and a girl explore an abandoned house, a cat haunts a pet shop, and a teeny tiny woman takes a set of teeny tiny teeth from a grave.















Both books are a delight, and it's a matter of personal taste which books' illustrations you prefer. Dirk Zimmer illustrations for In A Dark, Dark Room are deliciously eerie, while Victoria Chess's chubby ghosts are more funny than frightening.

And if you'd like to hear "The Green Ribbon," one of the stories from In a Dark, Dark Room, then click here.

Happy Halloween!

Add a Comment