By: Powell's Staff,
on 9/25/2015
It's one thing to read about censorship in a news article; it's another to become aware of the threat at a nearby library or school. For Banned Books Week this year, we reviewed hundreds of documented appeals to remove materials from a local public library, school library, or course curriculum. Below are 30 books that [...]
By: Maryann Yin,
on 3/25/2015
Producer Cody Meirick has launched a crowdfunding venture on Indiegogo. He hopes to raise $28,000.00 to shoot a documentary about Alvin Schartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
The film will explore several topics including gothic folklore, censorship, and Schartz’s process for creating this classic children’s book. We’ve embedded a video above that features more details about this movie.
Here’s more about the project: “This upcoming documentary will explore the history and background of one of the most controversial works of modern children’s literature: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. In many American libraries of the ’80s and ’90s these books developed a growing interest from boys and girls who were taken in by the gothic tales, the whimsical tone, and the ghostly illustrations. Now the Scary Stories book series stands as the most challenged children’s book of the last 30 years and a testament to the power of something that is often taken for granted: a good scary story.” (via Nerdist.com)
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By: Maryann Yin,
on 11/24/2014
John August has signed on to write the script for a film adaptation of Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark.
August frequently collaborates with Tim Burton. Two of those movies were created for child audiences, The Corpse Bride (2005) and Frankenweenie (2012). At the moment, no director has been hired for this project.
Here’s more from Deadline: “The three-book children’s series that’s sold more than 7 million copies worldwide began with 1981′s Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, continuing with More Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark (1984) and Scary Stories 3: More Tales To Chill Your Bones(1991). The collection of folk tales and urban legends also memorably haunted generations of youngsters with its surreal and nightmarish illustrations by award-winning artist Stephen Gammell.”
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By: Catherine Nichols,
on 10/30/2014
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.
By: Jason Boog,
on 4/16/2013
The American Library Association (ALA) has released its annual list of the most frequently challenged library books of the year. We’ve linked to free samples of all the books on the list–follow the links below to read these controversial books yourself.
The list was part of the ALA’s 2013 State of America’s Libraries Report. During the past year, the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom received 464 reports of challenged books. Here’s more from the report:
In California, a school committee voted to remove the Stephen King novella “Different Seasons” from Rocklin High School library shelves. The lone dissenter on that committee was 17-year-old student Amanda Wong, who continued to fight the ban and spoke against the decision at a later school board meeting. After hearing Wong’s concerns that the removal “opens a door to censoring other materials,” the district superintendent overturned the committee’s decision and returned the book to the Rocklin High School library’s collection.
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By: Jason Boog,
on 9/10/2012
What books do you remember most fondly from childhood?
Over at the nostalgia section of Reddit, readers have been sharing the books that make them feel most nostalgic.
To help our readers rediscover these childhood classics, we’ve linked to free samples of the 15 Most Nostalgic Books below–ranked in order by the books’ popularity among Reddit readers.
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By: Kinderscares,
on 10/21/2010
You'll have to excuse our mid-week slacking...we had a couple of crazy days (the fun kind of crazy!). Now we're back on track again and ready to announce our next October giveaway!
I love these books! Such fun spooky stories and great to read to the little ankle munchers (that is a baby zombie). You can never have enough of these!
I concur with D.M. These books are phenomenal! Stephen Gammell illustrations always gave me the heebie jeebies as a kid.
I think I'm one of the few who has heard of but not actually READ these books. I would like to win one please. Thank you please.
As a writer of scary Kidlit books I keep one of these three on my desk. The stories are a little tame by todays standards (though still great fun), but the images by Stephen Gammell, are simply inspiring!
When the kids say "I want to read something scary", the covers for these books pop into my mind, and depending on the kid, a twisted version of that Jack Nicholson movie scene pops in my mind as well: "You want the scare? You can't handle the scare!" (Yes, it's sad what pops into my mind during the day.) I haven't seen them on the shelves lately - I hope they weren't stolen!
the worms crawl in.. the worms crawl out.. the worms play pinnacle in your snout.. :) !
My son had these books when he was young. I'd love to have a set of them again. Thanks for the giveaway.
I shared this giveaway on my Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/erick.bognar
wandered into this reading about blaxploitation horror.
i remember these books being read to us by our grade 4 teachers and scaring the crap out of everyone.
best of all is the artwork. i think that really stuck to me as evidenced by my own work.