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Instead of just filling you up with the details of what I've devoured this delicious month, I've decided to give you a menu from which you can make your own selections.
I can't tell you what foods you will encounter in each title, but rest assured that in every one of these works of horror, someone is eating...or being eaten. ;)
Feel free to add any tasting notes below! Shelley W.
It is Bat Week! Did you know that bats are needed to control pests, spread seeds, and pollinate plants? Scientists learn a lot about the welfare of bat populations based on the crops that they help grow. And on October 31st we may be spooked out by the nocturnal winged creatures, but did you know that they help make the chocolate in our trick-or-treat bags?
Bat week is all about helping conserve the more than 1,100 species that live on every continent except Antarctica, and Bat Conservation International has many different ways that you can help bats that live in your neighborhood. Check it out!
If you want to get the facts first, here is an Arbordale booklist that will make you go batty!
Home in the Cave – by Janet Halfmann, illus. by Shennen Bersani
Baby Bat loves his cave home and never wants to leave it. While practicing flapping his wings one night, he falls, and Pluribus Packrat rescues him. They then explore the deepest, darkest corners of the cave where they meet amazing animals—animals that don’t need eyes to see or colors to hide from enemies. Baby Bat learns how important bats are to the cave habitat and how other cave-living critters rely on them for their food. Will Baby Bat finally venture out of the cave to help the other animals?
Little Red Bat – by Carole Gerber, illus. by Christina Wald
Red bats can hibernate or migrate to warmer regions during the winter. Should this solitary little bat stay or should she go? That’s the question the little red bat ponders as the leaves fall and the nights get colder! Some animals, such as the squirrel, tell her to stay. But what about the dangerous creatures that hunt red bats in winter? The sparrow and others urge her to go. But where? Carole Gerber takes young readers on an educational journey through one bat’s seasonal dilemma in Little Red Bat. Imaginative illustrations by Christina Wald give little red bat charm and personality, and children will be waiting and wondering what will happen next. Will the little red bat stay put or migrate south for safety and warmth?
The Rainforest Grew All Around – by Susan K. Mitchell, illus. by Connie McLennan
Imaginations will soar from the forest floor, up through the canopy and back down again, following the circle of life. The jungle comes alive as children learn about the wide variety of creatures lurking in the lush Amazon rainforest in this clever adaptation of the song “The Green Grass Grew All Around.” Search each page to find unique rainforest bugs and butterflies hiding in the illustrations. Delve even deeper into the jungle using sidebars and the “For Creative Minds” educational section, both filled with fun facts about the plants and animals, how they live in the rainforest and the products we use that come from the rainforest.
Deep in the Desert – by Rhonda Lucas Donald, – by Rhonda Lucas Donald, illus. by Sherry Neidigh
Catchy desert twists on traditional children’s songs and poems will have children chiming in about cactuses, camels, and more as they learn about the desert habitat and its flora and fauna. Tarkawara hops on the desert sand instead of a kookaburra sitting in an old gum tree. And teapots aren’t the only things that are short and stout—just look at the javelina’s hooves and snout. Travel the world’s deserts to dig with meerkats, fly with bats, and hiss with Gila monsters! Whether sung or read aloud, Deep in the Desert makes learning about deserts anything but dry.
And Coming in spring of 2017 Bat Count: A Citizen Science Story
by Anna Forrester, illus. by Susan Detwiler
Jojo is prepping for an exciting night; it’s time for the bat count! Bats have always been a welcome presence during the summers in the family barn. But over the years, the numbers have dwindled as many bats in the area caught White Nose Syndrome. Jojo and her family count the bats and send the numbers to scientists who study bats, to see if the bat population can recover. On a summer evening, the family quietly makes their way to the lawn to watch the sky and count the visitors to their farm.
I just wanted to remind folks of this terrific Halloween event being put on by Curious City. What a great way to put stories into the hands of children! Read all about it here!
Have you ever wanted to control sound waves? Or spook your friends with an eerie melody? If you answered yes, check out OUP's instrument of the month, the theremin.
The weather is crisp and the leaves are starting to change color…it must be fall! Now that we’ve made it to October, we wanted to help you plan out the month with these book recommendations and resources:
Author Robin Newman reads her fractured fairytale, Hildie Bitterpickles Needs Her Sleep, on Read Out Loud.
Hildie Bitterpickles is a little witch with a big problem. Her neighbors! They’re terribly loud and don’t seem to care. What does a witch have to do to get some sleep? Stick around to find out how Hildie gets out of this pickle.
KidLit TV’s Read Out Loud series is perfect for parents, teachers, and librarians. Use these readings for nap time, story time, bedtime … anytime!
Hildie Bitterpickles is a witch who needs her sleep. Her quiet neighborhood has been turned upside down with the sudden arrival of the old woman in her shoe, big bad wolf, and other fairy tale characters. What will Hildie have to do to get a quiet night’s sleep?
ABOUT ROBIN NEWMAN
Raised in New York and Paris, Robin is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and the City University of New York School of Law. She’s been a practicing attorney and legal editor, but she prefers to write about witches, mice, pigs, and peacocks. She lives in New York with her husband, son, goldfish, and English Cocker Spaniel, who happens to have been born on the Fourth of July.
Lots to do, lots to do… and so little time. You would think we would be old pros at this now, but damn if the butterflies don’t start a fluttering around this time. Paying for shows, flights, hotel rooms, airbnbs… and a whole slew of other things that will cause a bit of anxiety. But it is worth it as we love traveling and seeing everyone at the shows, which will start off Saturday with a one day horror show.
The 4th Annual Spook Show at the Halloween Club in La Mirada is here on March 5th and it will be our third time doing it. It keeps getting better and better each year; artist, crafters, vendors, food trucks, music, and much more. One of our favorite small shows, plus it is a great way to start off the con season. The show is free, but you must RSVP your free tickets to gain admittance. It is from noon til 7 on Saturday and family friendly.
There are plenty of more shows in the coming weeks, so everyone have fun and we hope to see you soon.
I know we just passed Valentine’s Day and have not yet reached St. Patrick’s Day, but holiday books have been on my mind.Recently I read-and rejected-a Christmas story that had many of the red flags I hope not to find in a manuscript.I feel bad for authors when I send rejections, as I know that their heart and soul are poured into their work.As I’m already thinking about the catalog for the fall and the publication schedule for next year,now seems like a good time to share my thoughts-scattered as they may be-on writing holiday books for children.
What am I thinking when I pull a holiday story from the stack of manuscripts waiting to be read?First, I hope that it won’t be written in rhyme.Too many people seem to think that stories for children must be written in rhyme.Rhyming is well and good if it suits the story, and the writer doesn’t try to force the rhyme.Yet I often find myself muttering, “Prose is a good thing. Give prose a chance.” as I go through manuscripts with an 8:2 rhyme to prose ratio.
I also hope that the story is about a holiday other than Christmas.Halloween is the second favorite for holiday stories, but Christmas holds a strong lead in the holiday stories submissions stakes.I’m quite fond of Christmas, but there are other holidays where new books would have a better chance of being noticed.
Then there is the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Syndrome.That’s my phrase for when a writer uses a popular character in a story without researching if it is in public domain. Rudolph has an interesting copyright and trademark history.I won’t go into that here, but if you use a copyrighted/trademarked character in your story, two things happen.The words “copyright issues” come to my mind.I also immediately discard the manuscript.
Check out what holiday books are available. Think about what makes them work well. What ideas do you have that would appeal to readers?Find out what the publisher chooses to publish.
Here are a couple of princess images I created. One was for a Halloween book and features my daughter with her friends and cousin. The other is a spread from A Little Princess which I stepped in to illustrate for another illustrator when she could not meet the deadline...I'm glad I took the job!
Halloween Counting Fun
A Little Princess
Watercolor Illustrations by
Steven James Petruccio
0 Comments on Princess Theme as of 2/2/2016 10:08:00 PM
today's FEATURED PRINT...a little piece of Halloween in December. the sweet and shy Sally from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (my favorite).
0 Comments on DECEMBER DISCOUNT DAYS...DAY 19 as of 12/19/2015 10:51:00 AM
Fans of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book will embrace this darkly funny debut novel from Laurel Gale about Crow, a dead boy, who has a chance at friendship—and a chance at getting his life back.
It’s almost Halloween! Do staff at your library dress up? Do you take inspiration from your favorite children’s books?
Stacey Rattner, the librarian at Castleton Elementary School in upstate New York, along with a teacher and a student, were inspired by Victoria Jamieson’s Roller Girl.
Let us know in the comments below how YOU mark October 31st at YOUR library.
I've been blogging here at my juicy little universe for 7 YEARS this month. I thought of doing A Thing to celebrate back in September, but by the time October 15 rolled around these plans and even the momentous event itself escaped me. (We have officially reached the stage where the kids have more obligations and events than their moms.)
not quite my costume, but you get the idea
So today I'll just remark that for at least 5 of those 8 Halloweens, I've gone to school dressed as Mother Nature, or more specifically Lady Autumn. I wondered whether I should make a change now that I'm in 2nd grade, but I just love the deep green velour dress with its texture and sweep, and I adore how the colorful paper leaves look pinned or taped against its background, just like the changed trees stand in contrast, both mellow and sharp, with those still staunchly chlorophylled.
I went looking for a poem to match my wonder every October at this color scheme and was dismayed by the length and complexity of every suggested poem I found at the Poetry Foundation (but it was very late). And then I remembered this:
"Autumn time: days get cool, it's back to school. It's Autumn time: the world turns golden brown... Mother Earth's about to change her gown.
She loves to change her season; It's Mother Earth's routine. Green to brown, brown to white white back into green-- she changes clothes and puts on something clean.
And she has reasons for changing seasons-- You have to change to grow; You have to change to grow."
- "Mother Earth's Routine," from the album Mother Earth
Tom Chapin and John Forster do it again and provide the perfectly detailed simplicity I'm looking for. Thanks, guys!
The roundup today is with Jone at Check It Out, we think! See you there.
0 Comments on costumed for a bloggiversary as of 10/30/2015 10:17:00 AM
Nature has a way of being cruel and being kind, here are a few fun facts where you can decide, if it is a trick or treat!
-Bats are the only mammals that can fly
-A flamingo can only eat when its head is upside down.
-If a kangaroo’s tail is lifted off the ground it is unable to hop. They use their tail for balance.
-A baby shark is ready to go fast when it is born, so that the mother shark doesn’t eat it.
-An owl can’t move its eyes, but it can turn its head 270 degrees.
-The cassowary is a beautiful bird and is predominately a vegetarian, but it can tear holes in flesh like Swiss cheese.
-The orca has no natural predator in the sea and they hunt in groups just like wolves do on land.
-Rhinos amble through the African Savanna and thickets of dense plants filled with ticks that attach to the rhinos and make them itch! The tick bird rides along while eating the tasty treat!
-The vampire squid is a creepy ocean creature that squirts glowing goo from its arms.
Find these facts and many more in Arbordale’s For Creative Minds sections! Take a look while you are eating your trick or treat loot!
Susanna Leonard Hill is hosting her 5th Annual Halloweensie Contest on her bog: write a 100-word Halloween story appropriate for children using the words costume, dark and haunt. All the other amazing entries can be found here.
My poem is for … Continue reading →
Last year, I wrote a post about books for kids that have creep appeal but aren’t downright terrifying. I’ll make my shameful confession again:
I’m a wuss. And because of that, Halloween isn’t really my jam. I hate being scared!! I DO, however, enjoy some good creepiness or eeriness, and some good suspense. So here are some more titles (all of these are out in 2015) for you to share with your patrons. Good luck with your Halloween/Fall Festival/Harvest programs, librarians! Happy October!
Source: Goodreads
Pram can see ghosts. She’s always been able to. And it’s never mattered much that she doesn’t have many friends that are actually alive, but then her aunts put her in school and she makes a friend who has lost a parent and is looking for answers. This adventure takes them from spiritualists to haunted houses and they definitely land in more trouble than they bargained for.
Source: Goodreads
Lauren Oliver’s latest is about several children with extraordinary abilities growing up in an oddities museum. But when an antiquity–yes, the shrunken head–is stolen, the kids embark on an adventure to get it back, but they encounter several murders and shady truths from their past. Super fun and creepy, this one will delight your kids.
Source: Goodreads
Thomas Marsden is a grave-robber. It’s a bad business, but it becomes even worse when he opens up an unmarked grave one night and finds a boy that is the spitting image of Thomas himself. What’s going on? And what do spiritualism, death, and the faery folk have to do with Thomas?
Source: Goodreads
The Jumbies is a little bit on the scarier side, but it’s also just excellent. Rooted in Caribbean folklore, this book is the tale of Corrine, who definitely isn’t afraid of jumbies. They aren’t real, they’re just stories parents make up to scare kids. But then strange things start to happen at night, and a beautiful and bewitching woman shows up on the island. Can Corrine and her friends save the island?
Happy Halloween!!
*
Our cross-poster from YALSA today is Ally Watkins (@aswatki1). Ally is a library consultant at the Mississippi Library Commission.
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I just wanted to remind folks of this terrific Halloween event being put on by Curious City. What a great way to put stories into the hands of children! Read all about it here! 
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Home in the Cave – by Janet Halfmann, illus. by Shennen Bersani
Little Red Bat – by Carole Gerber, illus. by Christina Wald
The Rainforest Grew All Around – by Susan K. Mitchell, illus. by Connie McLennan
Deep in the Desert – by Rhonda Lucas Donald, – by Rhonda Lucas Donald, illus. by Sherry Neidigh
And Coming in spring of 2017 Bat Count: A Citizen Science Story
Hildie Bitterpickles Needs Her Sleep
The 4th Annual Spook Show at the Halloween Club in La Mirada is here on March 5th and it will be our third time doing it. It keeps getting better and better each year; artist, crafters, vendors, food trucks, music, and much more. One of our favorite small shows, plus it is a great way to start off the con season. The show is free, but you must RSVP your free tickets to gain admittance. It is from noon til 7 on Saturday and family friendly.
Stacey Rattner, the librarian at Castleton Elementary School in upstate New York, along with a teacher and a student, were inspired by Victoria Jamieson’s Roller Girl.
-The cassowary is a beautiful bird and is predominately a vegetarian, but it can tear holes in flesh like Swiss cheese.
Wonderful! Love it!
Very fun read, can’t wait to give it to someone for Halloween this year.
Hildie Bitterpickles Needs her Sleep was released this past February, but we’ll have Robin’s Read Out Loud in rotation this Halloween, guaranteed!
Loved it!