Old Black Witch

by Wende and Harry Devlin

Nickey and his mother buy an old house with the intention of turning it into a quaint tea room.  Unfortunately, the old house they bought came with a witch who had been sleeping in the chimney for years.  Insistent the house belongs to her, Old Black Witch tries to make life very hard for Nickey and his mother.  Her efforts to hinder turn into efforts to help her new housemates.  It turns out Old Black Witch is good at more than just making blueberry pancakes... 

image via logan.com

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

by Linda Williams

illustrated by Megan Lloyd

A little old woman, who wasn't afraid of anything, certainly wasn't about to let a dark walk home scare her.  However, along the way she is approached by a pair of pants (who go 'wiggle, wiggle'), a shirt ('shake, shake'), gloves ('clap, clap'), and more articles of clothing, plus a giant pumpkin head that prove the little old lady is afraid of something.  In the end, the little old woman proves she really isn't scared easily, and it turns out for the best for everyone.

We love this book!  Not at all a scary book, and our little ones quickly picked up on doing actions for the 'wiggle,wiggle' or the 'shake, shake' involved in the story.  

Have a little fun: Perform a Reader's Theater for this book!  Perfect for if your family holds a Family Night, or a great way to start one!  There's no need for props or anything but the script and your imaginations, so preparation is a snap.  I like this one, taken from a first grade teacher's website.   Of course, unless you have 10 family members, you may have to rearrange the parts a little.

image via coverbrowser.com

Frank Was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance

I'll admit I'm a bit of a forced expert on Halloween books. Our local library has lovingly divided the holiday books into sections, so we can read Halloween books all year round if we wish...and (unfortunately) we do. Our little buddy has a fearful fascination with all things Halloween, so I can confidently say we have read every Halloween book offered at our library. So I have a lot to share. Not all are specifically Halloween, but all are guaranteed "spooky."

by Keith Graves

Frank was a monster who wanted to dance, so what did he do? Put ants in his pants, of course! He then takes off to show off his moves.

I have learned that pretty much all Halloween books rhyme. Why? I think it makes the subject matter less scary. If there's any way to talk about skeletons, mummies and vampires in a non-threatening way, rhyme would be the way to do it. I don't think my son would enjoy the books nearly as much if the rhyme didn't help make being "spooked" a fun thing.

Frank Was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance is a completely silly book. And, just so you know, the illustrations are pretty...lively. His brain plops onto the floor, his eyeball falls out, and he pretty much comes to pieces when he dances. But, it wouldn't be Halloween without a little gore! The pictures are not scary, and my kids (ages 3 and 5) think it's completely hilarious.

Share your favorite Halloween, monster, alien or other spooky books with me! We need the variety!

images via chroniclebooks.com

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

by Judi Barrett

illustrations by Rob Barrett

A classic story about a grandfather who tells his grandchildren the most amazing bedtime story about the town of Chewandswallow. A normal town, except that each day's 3 meals all come from the sky. Seems great, until the weather starts producing more than the town can handle.

I think I like this book now because I think, wouldn't that be great? I'd never have to cook again! Hooray! But when I really think about it, I don't mind cooking. It's the mess afterward that drives me crazy. And if I had to wash the dishes and wash the car after every meal, I'd be the first to board the peanut butter sandwich sailboat to get out of town.

As a kid, I loved the story for the pictures. My kids are following suit with my 3 year old curled up on the couch laughing at every page. There are so many tiny and hilarious things to see! I only recently noticed that the Sanitation Truck has what appears to be baby doll heads on poles staked to the front bumper. Weird? Absolutely. As distrurbing as the fried egg the mama bird finds in her nest on page 12? Moreso, actually. Will I read this book to my kids again and again anyway? Yes. Will I show them the strange things I find embedded in an otherwise delightfully illustrated picturebook? Ha! Not likely.

Have a little fun: It isn't hard for a child to pretend they are actually reading this book, because the pictures are so descriptive. Read it to your child the first few times, then one day pass the book to your little pre-reader and tell them to read you the story. They will be so pleased that they can "read"!! Plus, if your child can learn to utilize the pictures now, it will be something they continue to do when they are learning to read. Any teacher will tell you to never cover the pictures to get your child to read the words. The pictures help tell the story and decode words if they get stuck!

If you were homeschooling, this might be a good, silly book to introduce a discussion of weather.

Love the book? Think it would make a great movie? Neither do I. But I always make plans around any event that includes Mr. T. Prepare yourself for an animated movie with the voices of Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Tracy Morgan (SNL reunion, anyone?), and of course, Mr. T among others. I guess the movie is very loosely based on the book, but since the book is entirely about food falling from the sky, what else is there to follow? Expect it in theaters January 2010.

update: the new trailer

images via bottomshelfbooks.blogspot.com

The Giving Tree

by Shel Silverstein

Sure, we've probably all read this book, but I love it.  I used to love it because I believed it taught about the importance of being environmentally responsible.  If we keep taking from the environment, all that we're eventually left with is a stump.  

Now that I'm a mother, it offers me a whole new story, one that makes me cry through -pretty much- the whole book as I read it to my kids.  Just enjoy letting your kids see that books are meant to evoke emotion.  It isn't a good book unless it makes you feel something.

images via coverbrowser.com 

Lunch

by Denise Fleming

The story of a mouse who gets very hungry, leaves his mousehole, and finds a whole table of delicious fruits and vegetables to eat.  He approaches each one, each a different color.  You can see just a corner of the produce to give you a clue as to what it is that he is going to eat on the next page.  The words also prompt you to guess.  Mouse eats  "sweet yellow".... (with the corner of a cob of corn on that page).  Turn the page and it's confirmed that it is corn, which is being sloppily devoured by the mouse.  I love the hilarious body language of the excited mouse.  At the end of the book he is thoroughly filthy, leaving a trail back to his mousehole.  Great for ages infant to preschool. 

Have a little fun: As you're reading, have your child guess what the fruit or vegetable is that the mouse will eat next (you can see a corner of the vegetable on each page to give a clue).  Sing this song (complete with actions) with your child.  This is better with a group of children who actually are wearing different colors, but you can make it work.  Cut circles in different colors and put them on your body when you sing about that color.  Or, you could take clothing of different colors from their closet and throw them on for singing each color.  A fun dress-up game! If you'd like accompanying music, go to the National Institute of Health site.   I like this site because it includes a lot of the music to accompany songs for children.

If you are Wearing....(Sung to the tune "If You're Happy and You Know It")

If you are wearing red, shake your head

If you are wearing red, shake your head

If you are wearing red

Then please shake your head

If you are wearing red, shake your head

If you are wearing blue, touch your shoe 

If you are wearing blue, touch your shoe

If you are wearing blue,

Then please touch your shoe

If you are wearing blue, touch your shoe

If you are wearing green, bow to the queen 

If you are wearing green, bow to the queen

If you are wearing green,

Then please bow to the queen

If you are wearing green, bow to the queen

If you are wearing yellow, shake like Jell-O 

If you are wearing yellow, shake like Jell-O

If you are wearing yellow,

Then please shake like Jell-O

If you are wearing yellow, shake like Jell-O

If you are wearing black, pat your back 

If you are wearing black, pat your back

If you are wearing black,

Then please pat your back

If you are wearing black, pat your back

If you are wearing brown, turn around

If you are wearing brown, turn around

If you are wearing brown,

Then please turn around

If you are wearing brown, turn around

images via www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu and guitarati.com

Mouse Paint

by Ellen Stoll Walsh

"Once there were three white mice on a white piece of paper.  The cat couldn't find them."  One day while the cat sleeps, the mice find three jars of paint: red, yellow and blue.  They each jump inside and are no longer white mice, but red, yellow and blue mice.  The mice discover that when two of the colors are mixed together, it creates a new color!  After a nice bath in the cat's water bowl, the mice set off and use their new knowledge to paint not 3, but 6 colors on everything....well, almost everything.

Great book for PreK kids, but older kids could appreciate it as well.

Have a little fun: Experiment with color.  Put the primary colors in puddles on paper, put on some music, and let your child's fingers "dance" in the music (like the mice did).  Point out how the colors change when combined. 

For slightly older children, overlap colored tissue paper to see the color change.  Make a collage out of the tissue paper.

image via efollet.com

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters

by John Steptoe

If you can't read Disney's Cinderella even one more time, introduce your little princess to a different kind of Cinderella story. A Caldecott Honor, for its beautiful pictures.

Set in Africa, Mufaro has 2 beautiful daughters, Manyara and Nyasha. Although both were beautiful, they couldn't have been more different. Manyara was always bad tempered, selfish and unkind. Nyasha was hard working, loving, and kind, despite her sister's harsh words to her.

One day, the King sends an invitation for the most worthy and beautiful daughters in the land to appear before him, so he can choose a bride. Mufaro, who knows nothing of Manyara's bad treatment of others, is proud to send both his daughters. However, Manyara wants to get to the King's palace ahead of her sister, so she steals out in the night to get a head start.

Along the way, Manyara meets 3 people who are in need of kindness from her. Manyara is bitterly cruel to them and continues to the palace, presuming herself to be the next queen.

The next morning, Nyasha sets out for the palace and comes across some of the same strangers her sister met the night before. She is kind and generous with each of them. As Nyasha approaches the castle, Manyara is frantically running from the steps and tells her sister of a terrible beast within that claimed to know her faults. Nyasha enters anyway, and finds that her kindness pays off in the end.

Have a little fun: I actually enjoy this story more than Disney's Cinderella, because in Disney's Cinderella the prince seems to fall in love after only one dance. The prince has time to get to know Nyasha, and sees that she is just as kind as she is beautiful. Beauty is another issue in this story. Both girls are beautiful, but one chooses to act ugly.

Depending on the age of your child, you can talk about the differences and similarities between the classic Cinderella and this one. You'll be surprised how alike stories in two very different settings can be.

A little more fun: A good book to get your child interested in another country, especially with the Olympics going on right now. Point out where Africa is on a map or globe, and compare it to where you live.

images via Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

by Simms Taback

Joseph had a little overcoat, and when it becomes ragged, he turns it into a jacket. When the jacket gets too worn, he turns it into a vest... The long-ago overcoat is slowly whittled down and remade until it is nothing more than a button. Joseph loses the button. So what can he do now that he has nothing? This is a story that teaches you can always make something from nothing. Another message I particularly enjoy is that the crafty mind can always make something useful beyond its original purpose.

The pictures are a story of their own. The pages have holes in them, so when you turn the page, the new article of clothing is cut out of the old one. Also, the pictures include so many details! Many of those details include references to Jewish history, with pictures of real people on the walls of Joseph's home, and Hebrew writing on his papers. This is a very deserving Caldecott winner.

image via www.global-b2b-network.com

Have a little fun: This story has a particularly personal impact for me. Before reluctantly turning an old shirt into a rag, my great-grandmother would cut all the buttons off and put them in little jars. Those buttons went on to be useful on another article of clothing. I was given that box of button jars before my grandma died, and they have been repurposed to being a sorting game for my kids. Every once in a while I'll even find the need to pull out the box to replace a lost button. The little jars of buttons are more than a useful or sentimental item, they are a reminder to me that maybe I should think twice about throwing away that box of wire hangers just because I have a million of them....or that chair with a leg that could be fixed.... 

If you don't feel crafty enough to tackle repurposing something, give it to someone who is! A forum with increasing popularity is freecycle.org. Join the group in your area and someone local is guaranteed to pick it up and reuse it. If you want a little money for it, try your local Craigslist.org You don't need an account to post for free on Craigslist, just remember to post it in the correct state and area. Definitely submit a picture with it (of the item, not you...ha ha!) for best results!

Bedtime!

by Ruth Freeman Swain

illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith

Bedtime! is a non-fiction book about the history of and different kinds of beds. We all sleep, but it's amazing how differently we all do the same thing. This book follows beds through various times: ancient Egypt and China, the Middle Ages, and every time in between. My kids especially loved seeing beds in different locations: the desert, trains, semi-trucks, boats, the side of a mountain (yikes!), and outer space. My kids were delighted to see that the book made special mention of one bed in a manger.

Sometimes fact-books are overstimulating because of their hodge-podge of information strewn throughout the page. While great for older kids, younger kids could easily get lost. In Bedtime! the facts are given to form a continuous "story," not a spattering of facts.

If you love this one, check out Ruth Freeman Swain's other fun fact books.

While I enjoyed both of these books, Bedtime! is still my favorite of Swain's collection. However, you may enjoy these others even more, considering that these are both better sellers than Bedtime!

Have a Little Fun: You've reached the end and you're aching for more? Turn the last page to see facts about sleep. It includes a part that talks about how when we're getting ready for bed, someone on the other side of the world is just waking up! This led me to teach my kids about the position of the sun with the rotation of the earth and how that effects day and night around the world. I assure you I explained in it more simplistic terms. ha!

I used a mirror to reflect light from the sun onto our globe (but you could just use a ball). It shows how while one side of the earth gets light, the other is in shadow and it is night there. I've found this works best, because a flashlight simply isn't bright enough...but I guess you could go in a totally dark room to do this with a flashlight.