By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: September 21, 2011
It’s time to start prepping for the holiday season. First stop: Halloween. No tricks here—only treats!
When witches go riding,
and black cats are seen,
the moon laughs and whispers,
‘tis near Halloween.
~Author Unknown
Our 2011 Halloween book list spotlights everything from growing pumpkins; overcoming fears (a great topic for youngsters that tend to get a little surprised when they no longer recognize their family and friends due to colorful costumes and scary masks); witches; skeletons; cats and bats; and plain-old, creepy stories that beg to be read on a dark night with a flashlight. From babies to beginning readers to middle graders to young adults, TCBR has you covered.
Board Books
Spooky Boo! A Halloween Adventure
by Lily Karr (Author), Kyle Poling (Illustrator)
Reading level: Baby-Preschool
Board book: 12 pages
Publisher: Cartwheel Books; Brdbk edition (July 1, 2011)
Source: Publisher
Publisher’s synopsis: What’s Halloween without a haunted house? Come inside SPOOKY BOO! A HALLOWEEN ADVENTURE – it’s filled with tons of Halloween fun! With spooky lift-the-flaps, icky touch-and-feels, and outrageous mirrors throughout, this is one haunted house that trick-or-treaters will want to visit again and again!
Add this book to your collection: Spooky Boo! A Halloween Adventure
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Little Black Book
by Renee Khatami
Reading level: Baby-Preschool
Board book: 14 pages
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (July 26, 2011)
Source: Publisher
Publisher’s synopsis: Black is the new black in this darkly tantalizing touch-and-feel extravaganza for the senses! Now babies can enjoy this daring color in a novelty board book chock-full of gorgeous, full-color photographs. There are textures to touch, a flap surprise, and the scratch ‘n’ sniff scent of sweet licorice that you can almost taste!
Add this book to your collection: Little Black Book
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So obviously I haven't been blogging or reviewing. However, I have been reading! And like Martha Stewart says, "It's a good thing!". I've just finished reading all of The Jessica Darling series. Loved, loved, loved, loved them! I've also read
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, and I did not like that one at all. It just didn't connect with me. It was an advance copy so there were some clunky passages. Hey, it happens. I'm not going to like every book I read.
I'm currently reading
Chime by Franny Billingsley. It's an interesting book, the language and tone are gorgeous, but I'm only 1/4 of the way thru and it better pick up soon! I have also joined the gym!!!! I'm very happy with that and I've been pacing myself (I'm only in my second week) and I have good and bad days. I find that if I get on the treadmill and plug in my earbuds and have either my nook or a book with me, I can go to town for at least 45 minutes. I really need to lose the belly that I've had since the Lilygirl was born (almost 8 years ago!).
Hubby has been traveling like mad to Phoenix. He's generally gone for about two weeks at a time so life can get a bit hectic with him not around. Especially now that the school year is winding down, I'm going to be alone quite a bit with the Lilygirl. But thankfully she is such a great reader! We'll do some reading programs together through our local library.
I will be having a couple of giveaways soon. I just need to get my head on straight. I have to go to post office and I haven't and I keep kicking myself in the head for that (well not literally I'm not that flexible yet!)
I had a great time at BEA and met so many great people and had dinner with the cream of the crop too! I got to have dinner with Cindy Pon! Gretchen McNeil! Shana Silver! It was incredible. I also went to a SoHo Press party that was hosted by Daniel Ehrenhaft. It was an editors, agents and authors dream. I finally got to meet the lovely, if slightly, neurotic Bennett Madison! I love him. And he better be writing! ;p Of course Barry Lyga was there and I just love him too. He was with an editor from Scholastic and she was so sweet and funny.
I got to spend time with Janet Gurtler. I had dinner with her before the SoHo Press Party and it was so nice to just sit back and relax and talk about everything and nothing at the same time. I took her to this quaint little Irish Pub that I love in Times Square. She came up to my room at the Marriott Marquis and we waiting for Shana and Matt Blackstone. (Matt has a book coming out very soon and I encourage everyone to look out for it. It's called
A Scary Scene in a Scary Movie. Which I think is just about the coolest title in the world. I completely enjoyed meeting Matt and I wish him all the luck in the world with his debut novel. I have a feeling it will be a huge success! Just look at that cover!
I do have some reviews I have to write. I just haven't been feeling it lately. I mean I enjoy reading
So obviously I haven't been blogging or reviewing. However, I have been reading! And like Martha Stewart says, "It's a good thing!". I've just finished reading all of The Jessica Darling series. Loved, loved, loved, loved them! I've also read
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, and I did not like that one at all. It just didn't connect with me. It was an advance copy so there were some clunky passages. Hey, it happens. I'm not going to like every book I read.
I'm currently reading
Chime by Franny Billingsley. It's an interesting book, the language and tone are gorgeous, but I'm only 1/4 of the way thru and it better pick up soon! I have also joined the gym!!!! I'm very happy with that and I've been pacing myself (I'm only in my second week) and I have good and bad days. I find that if I get on the treadmill and plug in my earbuds and have either my nook or a book with me, I can go to town for at least 45 minutes. I really need to lose the belly that I've had since the Lilygirl was born (almost 8 years ago!).
Hubby has been traveling like mad to Phoenix. He's generally gone for about two weeks at a time so life can get a bit hectic with him not around. Especially now that the school year is winding down, I'm going to be alone quite a bit with the Lilygirl. But thankfully she is such a great reader! We'll do some reading programs together through our local library.
I will be having a couple of giveaways soon. I just need to get my head on straight. I have to go to post office and I haven't and I keep kicking myself in the head for that (well not literally I'm not that flexible yet!)
I had a great time at BEA and met so many great people and had dinner with the cream of the crop too! I got to have dinner with Cindy Pon! Gretchen McNeil! Shana Silver! It was incredible. I also went to a SoHo Press party that was hosted by Daniel Ehrenhaft. It was an editors, agents and authors dream. I finally got to meet the lovely, if slightly, neurotic Bennett Madison! I love him. And he better be writing! ;p Of course Barry Lyga was there and I just love him too. He was with an editor from Scholastic and she was so sweet and funny.
I got to spend time with Janet Gurtler. I had dinner with her before the SoHo Press Party and it was so nice to just sit back and relax and talk about everything and nothing at the same time. I took her to this quaint little Irish Pub that I love in Times Square. She came up to my room at the Marriott Marquis and we waiting for Shana and Matt Blackstone. (Matt has a book coming out very soon and I encourage everyone to look out for it. It's called
A Scary Scene in a Scary Movie. Which I think is just about the coolest title in the world. I completely enjoyed meeting Matt and I wish him all the luck in the world with his debut novel. I have a feeling it will be a huge success! Just look at that cover!
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