Nothing says 'Boo!' like a book

Like a trick-or-treat back on a bountiful night, our Halloween book stack overflowed with hauntingly good reads. We bring you the full-size chocolate bars (you know, the best Halloween-night loot) of the bunch and wish you a happy night of pretending to be someone or something else!

FLY, GHOST, FLY! By Betty Ann Schwartz. Sterling. Ages 2-5. $9.95.

BOO WHO? By Lola Schaefer. Simon & Schuster. Ages 3-5. $7.99.

Both these board books offer interactive reading experiences for the curious, active preschooler. In Fly, Ghost, Fly!, ghosts in a rotating circle spin and change positions in a spooky hologram. Larger than most board books, this easy-to-hold Halloween treat will delight young readers.

Boo Who? offers large fold-out riddles of popular Halloween costumes. A monster unfolds after "I ooze from the swamp in the misty air. All slimy and wet, I'll give you a scare." Vivid colors and sharp photography of real children will entertain any youngster preparing for Halloween.

BOO TO YOU! By Lois Ehlert. Simon & Schuster. Ages 3-7. $17.99.

We have an almost cultish devotion to Lois Ehlert's 30-year career as an illustrator. If you are unfamiliar with her talents, investigate her many artistic picture books that use elements of nature to illustrate her stories. In this story, a mouse and a cat have a Halloween stand-off. Ehlert employs corn husks, Indian corn, carrots, cranberries, gourds, squash, leaves, seed pods, pecans and other harvest goodies to create her memorable characters. Read the story, then rewind to point out elements such as pumpkin seeds used as teeth or elm leaves incorporated as ears.

DEAR VAMPA. By Ross Collins. HarperCollins. Ages 3-8. $16.99.

The vampire obsession is sweeping the nation (and might we pause to point out that many of you thought we were crazy for highly recommending Twilight when it first hit the bookshelves? Not that we are ones to harrumph politely and refrain from saying that we told you so. No, we would like to point out that we called the success of that vampire book from first read.)! Dear Vampa is a not a blood-sucking tag-along or wannabe, like so many vampire books riding on Twilight's cloak tales.

Instead, this is a light-hearted picture book about a "normal" family moving next door to a settled vampire family. The Wolfsons stay up all day long, interrupting the Pire family's daytime sleep. The Pires can't throw their late-night soirees without complaints from the Wolfsons. The Pires cannot understand the Wolfsons' fondness for sunbathing. Their pets are incompatible. Finally, the Pires have had enough and move back to Transylvania. The ending and the Wolfsons' surprise provides a good first introduction to literary irony.

RUMBLEWICK'S DIARY: MY UNWILLING WITCH SLEEPS OVER. By Hiawyn Oram. Little, Brown. Ages 6-9. 87 pages. $9.99.

Haggy Aggy does not want to be a witch. She would rather hang out with "Otherside" girls. Rumblewick, Haggy Aggy's faithful familiar, sees the oncoming disaster when the familiars of other witches begin to talk. The High Hags, or the lead witches, try to catch Haggy Aggy in the act of doing unwitchy things.

Written from the viewpoint of Rumblewick, this super cute tale is a great read for those on the other side of the spectrum wishing to be witches. Plus, this is an easy-to-read series for elementary-age readers.

ONCE A WITCH. By Carolyn MacCullough. Houghton Mifflin. Ages 12 and up. 292 pages. $16.

Tamsin Greene has been under constant pressure ever since her Halloween birthday 17 years ago. Because of this special birthday, her grandmother proclaimed that Tamsin would be the most powerful witch to ever come thorough their family line. But her powers never appear.

As Tamsin nears adulthood, she begins to question her powerful family of witches. When a professor mistakes her for her ultra-talented older sister, the Greene family secrets begin to unravel, as does some mysterious witch history. Tamsin discovers herself as well as her family in this influential journey. Hannah found this to be one of the best heroine stories that she has read in quite a while.

Monica Young and Hannah McRae Young can be reached at





cyoung9@triad.rr.com

. View book reviews at the Journal in Education site at

www.jie.


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