Books
Email
Print
No trick to treating Halloween readers
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: October 26, 2008
Reviewed by Hannah:
Halloween is one of the best holidays of the year! Not only do you get candy galore, but you also get to dress up. My favorite costume ever was when my sisters and I trick-or-treated as a McDonald's Happy Meal. I was the drink, Kilby was the cheeseburger and Marlee was the small fry.
This year might be my first Halloween in high school, but I've already picked out a pretty pink fairy costume. I don't think I'll ever be too old to trick-or-treat!
Another Halloween favorite for me is volunteering at the annual Kernersville Rotary Club Haunted Fear Factory in downtown Kernersville. It is a spooky good time but not meant for 10 and younger.
For that age group, see these Halloween books to get in a trick-or-treat frame of mind:
CAT NIGHTS. By Jane Manning. HarperCollins. Ages 3-6. $16.99.
Felicity the witch has been waiting for her 263rd birthday, the "year she grows her first wart, the year her shoes being to curl up at the toes, and the year she's able to cast her first love spell." But Felicity is really happy about her Halloween birthday because she is now old enough to turn herself into a cat.
As a cat, Felicity enjoys the sharpened senses of feline life. She turns into a cat every night for eight nights. A witch can turn into a cat only eight times before becoming a cat forever on the ninth transformation.
When Felicity is sleeping on the eighth morning, her cousins cast a spell over her to make her not want to be a cat. Poor Felicity -- her life's desire is taken away.
Based on an old Irish legend, this modern retelling is kid-friendly, bright and colorful and pays homage to following one's ambitions.
VUNCE UPON A TIME. By J.otto Seibold and Siobhan Vivian. Chronicle. Ages 4-8. $16.99.
If you enjoyed Olive the Reindeer, then you will love this Halloween classic-to-be from the same author, featuring Dagmar, a reticent vegetarian vampire afraid of humans.
When Dagmar runs out of his precious candy, his skeleton friend tells him about a holiday coming up the next night when Dagmar can get free candy by the bag.
All Dagmar needs is a costume. After rejecting several costumes and then being denied permission from his parents, Dagmar leaves home in a huff.
While sulking, Dagmar realizes that everyone who is trick-or-treating looks just like him. He makes a new friend, a ghost, who teaches Dagmar the fine art of loading up on candy. When his new friend takes off her costume, Dagmar is horrified to learn she isn't really a ghost.
Will their newly found friendship survive Dagmar's surprise that she is a human? Very colorful and creative!
BATS AT THE LIBRARY. By Brian Lies. Houghton Mifflin. Ages 4-8. $16.
Every Halloween is bat night at the library. A sequel to the popular Bats at the Beach, this book shows lots of fun things the bats do at the library when they have the place to themselves. They like to play in the water fountain, photocopy their wing spans and put on a shadow-puppet show using the overhead projector. They participate in more than mischief, however. Classics come alive as the bats listen to stories and become absorbed in the tales until morning comes. This is a really cute addition to your Halloween library.
BONE SOUP. By Cambria Evans. Houghton Mifflin. Ages 4-8. $16.
Basically a rewrite of the stone-soup fable in which everyone contributes to make a fine soup, this Halloween version features Finnigin the Eater assembling mummies, witches, beasts and zombies to help him make a delicious Halloween feast. Written by Cambria Evans, the former Martha Stewart Omnimedia art director, this oversize picture book uses subdued colors creatively.
HALLOWEEN NIGHT. By Marjorie Dennis Murray. HarperCollins. Ages 5-9. $16.99.
" 'Twas Halloween night, and all through the house/ Every creature was stirring, including the mouse." A semi-familiar rhyme starts off this poetic picture book about a Halloween party. Hosts Ogre and Olaf have prepared for a festive night with a Halloween buffet that includes freshly picked bugs, crickets on ice and moldy green tea. Ogre, Olaf and their friends are pleased when 10 trick-or-treaters ring the bell. They invite the children to join the party, but the children run away shrieking. The monster friends are unfazed by the rejection and continue to party Halloween night away. This is colorful with indigos, oranges, greens and yellows.
■ Monica Young and Hannah Young can be reached at cyoung9@triad.rr.com. View book reviews at the Journal in Education site at www.jie.journalnow.com.
Email
Print
