Halloween Books

It is always fun to be festive and read books about the seasons.  Here are some of my family's favorite Halloween books that we are reading this year. 

The Charles Addams Mother Goose by Charles Addams

The Charles Addams Mother Goose is a great collection of Mother Goose rhymes.  It includes all of your favorites like Humpty Dumpty, Little Miss Muffet and Hickory Dickory Dock.  What makes this such a great Mother Goose collection is the illustrations.  If your child likes scary then this is the Mother Goose for them.  Addams did not change any of the rhymes, but his illustrations of the rhymes show a darker side.  He uses his familiar drawings of forlorn faces and dark eyes to depict our favorites.  The farmer's wife is solemnly cutting of mice tails with her electric knife, Little Miss Muffet's spider is gigantic and a witch is stirring pease porridge.  What a great Mother Goose collection to have, especially for Halloween time!

Bone Soup by Cambria Evans

I have blogged about the classic folktale Stone Soup but now I have found a spooky fun Halloween version of the tale. In this version of Stone Soup a little skeleton named Finnegan sets off with his eating spoon, eating stool and hungry mouth to find a Halloween feast.  When the town's creatures hear that Finnegan is on his way they all go into hiding and take their food with them.  When Finnegan reaches the town and sees that it is deserted and there is no feast he fills the biggest pot he can find with water and sets it to boil.  You can see in the pictures that the towns creatures are curiously watching Finnegan first from behind closed windows.  Then as he drops an old bone into the boiling water and sings, "Bone soup is what I make. A magic bone is all it takes.  Boil it long and add some spice. Bone soup tastes so very nice" the town's creatures open their windows to watch Finnegan.  Eventually the town's creatures join Finnegan around the pot and help him make bone soup by sharing their stewed eyeballs, bat wings and frog legs.  Just like in the original story of bone soup Finnegan teaches the towns creatures the importance of generosity!

Pumpkin Trouble by Jan Thomas

Halloween doesn't always have to be spooky and scary, sometimes it can be funny! Jan Thomas delights us again with her simple humor in Pumpkin Trouble.  Duck decides to make a jack-o-lantern for Halloween and falls into the pumpkin.  He begins looking around for help. When Mouse and Pig see a pumpkin walking around they think that Duck is a pumpkin monster.  They being to run away from the monster, Duck follows because he is also scared of the pumpkin monster.  When Duck runs into the barn and the pumpkin smashes into pieces, Pig and Mouse declare that Duck battled the pumpkin monster and won.  This book will have your preschoolers laughing out loud for sure!

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson

Another Halloween classic. What happens when you take a witch, her boom and several animals?  Well the broom breaks of course.  But that is not even the worst part.  All the animals fall into a icky, mucky swamp, but the witch runs into a dragon who wants to eat her.  The animals come to the rescue of the witch by disguising themselves as a swamp monster with 4 heads.  When the dragon hears the swamp monster say, "Back off that's our witch" he is terrified and runs off leaving the witch unharmed.  Then together the witch and her animal friends brew a potion to make a brand new broom with room for everyone.  As a bonus Amazon Prime has the story animated and it is super cute and fun to watch!

What Was I Scared Of? by Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss even gets in the spooky spirit with his book What Was I Scared Of?  In this Seuss story a man goes for a walk and sees a pair of pants, with nothing in them.  Of course he was not scared, not even when the pants started running.  Then the man kept running into the pants different places.  Now the man was scared.  He tried running away and hiding from the pants but again he found them.  He was so scared, but then he realized that the pants were scared also because, "I began to see that I was just as strange to them as they were to me." From that moment on the man and the empty pants were friends, because he knew there was nothing to be scared of.  A fun book to use to teach our little ones who may be scared of some aspects of Halloween.

For some more fun Halloween books check out these posts:

Bunnicula
The Little Old Lady...
Beware
Click, Clack, Boo!
Leonardo the Terrible Monster
Funny Bones

Happy Reading!

Appalachia

Recently I have been doing some work in McCreary County, KY one of the poorest counties not just in the state but in the nation.  McCreary County rests in Southern Kentucky right at the border of Tennessee in the Appalachian Mountains. Having been there and seen the deep, multigenerational, persistent poverty it's still hard to describe to people what it is like.  It is hard to explain why some people can't wait to leave and other's stay for their lifetime.  Appalachia is not just a place it is a way of life.  Whenever I can't find words I always turn to books.

Cynthia Rylant, born and raised in Appalachia has written many books about her growing up in this culture, however none has ever spoke to me the way that Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds has.  This will now be my go to book for finding the words to tell people about this amazingly beautiful yet very poor part of the country.

Rylant tells us that the people of Appalachia are "more used to tress than sky" and that "mountains came up so close to them and blocked their view" so they just stay where they "know for sure how the sun will come up." She goes on to describe coal mining and how even when people do go off to become something else, they always come back to the mountains.  She describes the houses, inside and out, including the sounds and smells you will encounter in the kitchen.  She tells us how people who live in Appalachia are shy to outsiders but will still be friendly, even more so when they become familiar with you.

"Most of them are thinkers, because these mountains inspire that, but they could never find the words to tell you of these thoughts they have."

This beautiful text paired with the paintings of Barry Moser, also a native of Appalachia make this book a true work of art.  His paintings convey the very emotion of the Appalachian culture and tell more of the story Rylant was writing.

If you have ever been to Appalachia or just want to better understand the culture this book is a must.

Happy Reading!

Laura

Little Pea

Amy Krouse Rosenthal has endless amounts of books that appeal directly to kids.  They teach simple lessons about life to kids in an easy and understandable way.  One of my favorites is Little Pea.  Little Pea is just like any other pea he likes playing with his friends. But what is really awful about being a pea is that you have to eat candy for dinner.  Little Pea HATES candy.  He complains and complains but his mom and dad always MAKE him eat 5 pieces of candy for dinner (tragic right?) After his dinner he is rewarded with dessert- a big bowl of spinach.

Picky eaters will definitely appreciate and understand the twist- a pea that hates eating candy for dinner.  The whole time they will be thinking, "It's not fair, I want candy for dinner!" Little Pea is also a good example for these picky eaters, because even though he doesn't want to eat the candy, he does what his parents say.

If you like Little Pea you need to check out two more books by Rosenthal Little Hoot and Little Oink.   Little Hoot is about an owl who hates stay up late.  Little Oink stars a pig who hates being messy.

Happy Reading!
Laura

How To Read A Story

Everyone needs a good how to tutorial.  We have all read a how to book about something (how to make more money, how to be happy, how to raise a child), but have we ever read a book on how to read a story?  It might sound a little redundant, reading a book on how to read but Kate Messner brings us a lovely read aloud that shows kids how to read a story in just 10 easy steps!

Step 1 of course is to find a story, a good one of course.  Step 2 is to find a reading buddy.  Step 3 is find a cozy reading spot.  The list goes on and on, telling the reader every imaginable step to reading a story like reading in fun voices and what to do when a hard word comes up.  It is such a fun read aloud because the book reads just like a conversation.  This is a fun book for any reader to read, but an especially great read aloud for kindergarten and first grade when they are just beginning to become independent readers.

What would your steps be for how to read a story? Would you read with a buddy or just by yourself?

Happy Reading!
Laura

Garden

It's that time of year, gardens have been planted and are beginning to grow yummy fruits and vegetables.  We have already been cooking and baking with our strawberries, kale and lettuce.  It won't be long until the beans, peas, tomatoes and other veggies are ready to pick.  In the mean time pick up some fun garden read alouds to help pass the time until harvest!

Up in the Garden Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner

Anyone who loves gardening will enjoy this comparison book with beautiful language.  A child and her Nana begin getting their garden ready to plant.  One page will describe what is happening up in the garden, while the next pages describes what is happening down in the dirt to help the garden grow.  The book takes us through the seasons beginning with late winter/early spring and ending with the snow covered winter. Each season and stage of garden is beautifully described and paired with illustrations that are just as beautiful.

Garden Rhymes by Clare Beaton

A collection of super cute and classic poems all about the garden.  You will find Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, Lavender Blue, Here is the Bee Hive and others.  The pictures are all felt stitched which adds the the quaintness of this perfect spring board book.

I Have a Garden by Bob Barner

This is a great book for early readers.  Your young reader can read about all the animals they might see in their own garden.  Barner uses the repeated phrase "I have a __________ in my garden," through the book.  Your beginning reader can easily fill in the blank with the correct word by looking at the picture and beginning sound of the unfamiliar word.  Try covering the animal word up with a sticky note.  Then have your child read the phrase and guess what word could be under the sticky note.  Be sure to prompt them to look at the picture.  Once they make a guess ask were you right? Does bird begin with?  Young readers love trying to guess the missing word by using the picture- a great early literacy skill!

Munch! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Flemming

In Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! All Mr. McGreely ever wanted was a garden.  When he finally decided to plant a garden, bunnies got in and ate all his vegetables.  He then put up a fence figuring that would keep the bunnies out, but those bunnies found a way in.  Day after day Mr. McGreely put a new obstacle in the bunnies way.  Then night after night the bunnies found a way through, over or under the obstacle.  In the end Mr. McGreely gives up and shares his vegetables with the bunnies.

I love Fleming's use of sound and action words through out this book.  The bunnies dash and spring and scratch and splash through the obstacles and then muncha all the vegetables! Her use of these words add to the excitement of the book and make it fun to read! If you children are into listening to audiobooks Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! read by William Dufries is also great!

Inch by Inch The Garden Song by David Mallett

The Garden Song Inch by Inch complete with illustrations of a young boy planting his garden and harvesting giant vegetables.  In the back of the book there is the sheet music so that you can sing the song while reading.  Here is a clip of John Denver singing The Garden Song on Sesame Street.

What are your favorite garden books to read while waiting for your yummy vegetables to ripen?

Happy Reading!
Laura

Silly Wonderful You

Four years ago today our oldest was born.  Since then my husband and I have been blessed beyond measure with the opportunity to be his mommy and daddy.  He has taught us so much about life, love and how to have fun!  I cannot think of a better book to share today than Sherri Duskey Rinker's Silly Wonderful You. 

Silly Wonderful You is written by a parent to a child.  The mother remembers a clean and quiet house, never quite imagining just how loud and messy a house could get.  She reflects on early morning wake up calls, the number of toys and the sheer exhaustion of being a parent.  The books ends with parent and child sleeping together in a chair with the line, "dreams really do come true."  Silly Wonderful You is the perfect ode to children, how they change our lives for the better and all the love that comes with them. 

Anthony reading through the years! #raiseareader

So today I want to wish a Happy 4th Birthday to my silly wonderful Anthony!  

Happy Reading!

Monsters

Chances are you might know a kid that is scared of monsters.  They can't sleep at night because of monsters, or maybe they need the light on.  Marilyn in the book Marilyn's Monster gives monsters a new name.  All the sudden monsters aren't to be feared, but they are friends to play with.

Everyone in Marilyn's class was getting a monster.  You had to wait for your monster, your monster would come and find you.  Your monster might find you riding your bike, or taking a test at school.  The problem is Marilyn waited and waited for her monster but he never came and Marilyn was the only kid without a monster. She had no one to play with or laugh with.  She had no one to keep her safe at night. Monsters were pretty great and Marilyn really wanted one.  She could not wait anymore and decided to go and find her monster. She walked and walked and searched and searched.  She yelled out "WHERE ARE YOU!" and heard a soft voice reply, "here."  She had found her monster!  He had gotten lost and stuck but Marilyn came to save him.  Marilyn took him home and they were best friends!

Marilyn and her monster might help your child get over a fear of monsters.  You could also have your child draw and create their own monster.  All the monsters in the book are so different and unique, just like our children.  What kind of monster would your child come up with?

Here is a blog with some really fun monster craft ideas:

Here are some yummy to eat Monster Cupcakes:

Happy Reading!

Laura