Today's word of the day is: Workshop
I'm back from Nashua, where the New England SCBWI conference was a huge success and my four-hour workshop on web design and blogging was well-attended and well-received. The grand finale was a live update of my website to include news about the presentation itself, thanks to a kind volunteer photographer in the audience.
That's my
new website design in the background, and see how exhausted I looked by that point? Since I was presenting for both sessions on Sunday, I didn't get to attend the equally well-received workshops going on at the same time:
- Toni Buzzeo on self-promotion;
- Brian Lies and Lita Judge on illustration;
- Sarah Aronson on point of view;
- Harold Underdown on an overview of the basics;
- Debra Garfinkle on humor writing;
- Emily Herman and Anne Sibley O'Brien on writing tools;
- Sarah Shumway on pitches; or
- The Write Sisters (Janet Buell, Kathy Deady, Muriel Dubois, Diane Mayr, Andrea Murphy, Barbara Turner, and Sally Wilkins) on critique groups and collaboration
In fact, with all of those other workshops going on, I was amazed that anyone wanted to come to mine at all. We really did have a great group of authors and illustrators who peppered me with enough questions to last the entire time--and we probably could have gone for another four hours if I hadn't lost my voice by then. Thanks, everybody!
Here is a no-fail, sure-to-delight kids, just-spooky-enough-but-not-too-scary American folktale from Appalachia that I recommend reading to children in the early elementary grades at Halloween…or at any other time of the year. The following book was always a favorite with my students. They L-O-V-E-D it! My students would request that I read this book several more times during the year. The Tailypo also became a traditional Halloween read-aloud in the classrooms of teachers to whom I recommended this book.
THE TAILYPO: A GHOST STORY
Told by Joanna Galdone
Illustrated by Paul Galdone
Clarion, 1997
This is a tale about an old man who lives in a one-room cabin “in the deep, big woods.” One day, he goes off hunting with his three dogs—Uno, Ino, and Cumptico-Calico. After many hours out hunting, the wind begins blowing hard. The old man knows it will get dark soon so he heads for home—with just one “skinny rabbit.”
The old man cooks up the rabbit and eats it. Then he sits back in his rocker and looks at the moon rising in the sky as the wind whistles round his cabin. Just as he’s dozing off, “a most curious creature crept through a crack between the logs in the wall.” The creature has a “BIG, LONG, FURRY TAIL.”
Now what do you suppose the old man does? Cower in his chair? Nope! Jump into his bead and pull the covers up over his head? Nope! Bolt out of his cabin and run off into the darkness? No way! Why, as soon as he spies that varmint in his house, he grabs his hatchet and hacks off its tail! Yep! That varmint creeps back through that crack in the wall and takes off. Then the old coot cooks up the critter’s furry tail and eats it! Yessirree, that’s what he does because he’s still hungry!
Once his belly is full, the old man goes to bed. He isn’t asleep for long when he hears a scratching sound. The old man calls out, “Who’s that?” A voice answers, “Tailypo, tailypo, all I want is my tailypo.” The scartching continues. The frightened old man calls his dogs—and they chase that thing off into the woods. Then the old man goes back to bed.
In the middle of the night, he’s awakened by the sound of something trying to get into his cabin—something that keeps making that SCRATCHING sound. He hears that voice saying: “Tailypo, tailypo, I’m coming to get my tailpo!” The old man calls for his dogs again. They chase that wild thing into the swamp. Once everything is quiet, the man returns to bed.
Before morning arrives, the old man’s awakened by something down in the swamp. He thinks it’s the wind—but when he listens closely he hears a voice crying: “You know, and I know, all I want is my tailypo.” The old man summons his dogs—but they’re nowhere to be found. He shuts and bars his door and goes back to bed.
THEN…just before daylight, the old man gets a strange feeling that there’s something in the cabin with him. That something starts climbing up the bed covers. First, the man sees two pointed ears poking up over the foot of his bed…then he sees “two big, round, fiery eyes.” That varmint has returned to get its tailypo! The man tells the creature he hasn’t got it—but the creature insists he does. It jumps on top of the man and scratches everything to pieces. Well, almost everything—the chimney of the old man’s house is the one thing left standing in the deep, big woods. That’s all.
But folks who live in the valley say
That when the moon shines and the wind blows,
You can hear a voice say:
“Tailypo, tailypo,
now I’ve got
my tailypo.”
Read this old tale with the overhead lights turned off and electric jack o’ lanterns turned on, use some scratching sound effects, and read the varmint’s words in a quavering, ghostlike, wailing voice—and you’re sure to send shivers of delight down children’s spines.
Suggested Art Activity: The first time I read this story aloud to my students I didn’t show them the illustrations. I told them to imagine what the “tailypo” creature looked like to them. When I finished reading the book, I gave my students construction paper and asked them to create their own versions of the creature. It was interesting to see how the creature was perceived by each child.
I’ve already written two posts about some Halloween picture books that are just perfect for reading aloud in October. (Click
here to read
Great Halloween Read-Alouds for Little Listeners and
here to read my review of
The Three Bears' Halloween.) I also
posted links to several lists of suggested Halloween books. Now, how about some books with
POEMS about Halloween, monsters and witches, and other things that go bump in the night?
BEWARE, TAKE CARE
Fun and Spooky Poems by Lilian Moore
Illustrated by Howard Fine
Henry Holt, 2006 This posthumous collection contains fifteen poems that were published in some of Moore’s earlier poetry books, including Spooky Rhymes and Riddles and See My Lovely Poison Ivy. Beware, Take Care includes poems about ghosts, dragons, monsters, and other spooky subjects. The book is intended for younger children.
Click here to read the review I wrote of Beware, Take Care last fall at Blue Rose Girls.
One of my favorite poems in this book is Lost and Found.
LOST AND FOUND
by Lilian Moore
LOST:
A Wizard’s loving pet.
Rather longish.
Somewhat scaly.
May be hungry or
Upset.
Please feed daily.
P.S. reward.
FOUND:
A dragon
Breathing fire,
Flails his scaly
Tail
In ire.
Would eat twenty LARGE meals
Daily.
If we let him.
PLEASE
come and get him.
P.S. No reward necessary.
SKELETON BONES & GOBLIN GROANS
Poems for Halloween
Written by Amy E. Sklansky
Illustrated by Karen Dismukes
Henry Holt, 2004
This collection, which has lighthearted poems about Halloween candy, jack o’ lanterns, a skeleton’s bones, Cyclops, zipping bats, and a haunted house that’s for sale, is a good book of poems to share with preschoolers and children in the early elementary grades as the end of this month approaches. The beaded canvas illustrations are bright and colorful and set a festive tone in celebrating a holiday that usually sends shivers of delight through children.
Most of the poems in Skelton Bones & Goblin Groans rhyme. Some do not—including the haikus Mummy and Grave. One of the most engaging poems in the book is House for Sale!
House for Sale!
by Amy E. Sklansky
Two fireplaces. Eat-in-kitchen.
Atmosphere you’ll find bewitchin’.
Lots of bedrooms. Space galore.
Slightly creaky hardwood floors.
Walk-in closets you can fill.
Stunning view atop a hill.
Asking price is very good.
In a lovely neighborhood.
All in all, just what you wanted.
(BY THE WAY, THIS HOUSE IS HAUNTED.)
If you read that poem to children, you know they will be able to provide the final word in the last line.
Do check out this page at Amy Sklansky website. There you will see a two-page spread from Goblin Groans & Skeleton Bones. It includes the full text of two poems: After Trick-or-Treating and Jack O’ Lantern.
I’ll end this Poetry Friday post with a witch poem I wrote many years ago.
THERE WAS A WITCH
A Poem by Elaine Magliaro
There was a witch who liked to race
Her supersonic broom through space.
At six o'clock last Friday night
She blasted off at speed of light.
She whizzed past Mercury and Mars...
Then headed off toward distant stars.
Across the galaxy she sped,
A black peaked helmet on her head.
An interstellar traveler, she
Explored the Milky Way with glee.
She chased swift comets here and there.
She watched bright supernovae flare.
She zipped through clouds of cosmic dust…
A witch bewitched by wanderlust.
There was a witch, I’m sad to say,
Flew near a big black hole one day.
It sucked her in just like a bean.
You won’t see HER on Halloween!
Kelly Fineman has the
Poetry Friday Roundup this week.
The Three Bears’ Halloween is a great new book to read aloud to very young children at this time of the year. It’s not too spooky—but it provides the right amount of Halloween atmosphere for little listeners.
The story begins as Papa, Mama, and Baby Bear are putting on their Halloween costumes. Then off they go into the night. Baby Bear can’t wait to start trick-or-treating. Boo! He yells down into a hole—and a squirrel gives him nuts. Boo! Boo! He shouts into a bush—and bees give him some honey. Boo! Boo! Boo! He calls up into a tree—and birds drop berries into his bag. Baby Bear thinks he’s pretty scary stuff!
Next, the three bears come upon a house that looks mighty spooky. There are gravestones lining the walk to the front stairs. There are cobwebs and bats hanging from the roof of the porch. Shutters hang askew. A skeleton is stationed at the door. And what’s that poking out from a small evergreen tree that the bears don’t see? A black peaked hat! Whose could it be???
Baby Bear knocks on the front door and cries, “Trick or treat!” The door CREEEAKS open. Just as the three bears enter the house, they hear someone laughing loudly: TEE-HEE-HEE! Who could it be?
Once inside the kitchen the bears find three yummy popcorn spiders. Papa and Mama nibble on the licorice legs. Baby Bear wolfs down a whole tasty arachnid! TEE-HEE-HEE! They hear that laugh again and spy someone peeking in the window—“someone with a scary broom!” The bears are frightened. They run into the living room to hide behind a sofa. Baby trips over a chair and breaks “it to bits.”
The door CREEEAKS open again. The bears see the shadow of someone entering the kitchen...and it looks like someone “with a big, scary nose.” The bears head upstairs, jump into bed, and pull the covers over their heads.
TEE-HEE-HEE! Someone is creeping up the stairs after them! Baby Bear peeks out from under the covers and sees a BIG, BAD WITCH!!! Yikes! The three bears leap out of bed, scurry down the stairs, and run out the door. The last illustration shows the bears hurrying out through the gate. In the foreground, we see a young girl with golden hair who's pulled off her peaked hat and long green nose. She's smiling and wishing the hairy intruders a Happy Halloween!!! Who could she be?
Duval’s brief text, which echoes the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, should be familiar to many young children. The author adheres to the traditional sets of threes often found in folktales: each of the three bears dons a costume; Baby Bear trick-or-treats at three different places; the bears eat food, break a chair, and jump into bed in someone else’s house. This book has a fine format for a picture book for little listeners.
Meisel’s art is an excellent complement for this not-too-scary Halloween tale. The bears don’t look ferocious, the illustrations aren’t too dark—and although the pictures are uncluttered, some include droll little details--like the squirrel dressed up in a Superman costume, a little mouse wearing clothes that appears to be following the bears, and three stuffed bears displayed on the bedroom bureau.
I highly recommend adding
The Three Bears’ Halloween to a list of books suggested for reading aloud to children in preschool and kindergarten at Halloween.
Last week was
a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week. Really! The only bright light in the past seven days of darkness was Saturday. The
Robert's Snow Artist Open House at
The Child at Heart Gallery and the library in Newburyport, Massachusetts, was wonderful! I had planned to post an article about the open house with photos I had taken at the library and gallery either last night or early this morning--but when I turned on my digital camera yesterday, it was broken. Fortunately, someone from the gallery took pictures at the library. Grace met up with us later at the gallery. She brought her camera--and so did Penny Geis, the mother-in-law of artist Alissa Imre Geis. I hope to post an article in the next day or two.
My students always love hearing this one too. I loved your idea for visualizing and creating the tailypo. I think I will read it tomorrow!
Katied,
Have a great time reading The Tailypo. I have missed reading aloud to young children since I retired.