Halloween 2011 - what's your favorite book?

This year I outsourced the pumpkin carving to the entlings and we ended up with some sort of symbol of the Horde? from World of Warcraft and a face from Minesweeper? I'm clueless.

I obviously need to reawaken my inner reading theme pumpkin carver next year. In the meantime, check out David LaRochelle's stunning work.

But we maintained our tradition of asking trick or treaters to name a favorite book before we doled out the treats. When the parents accompany the children there is general approval of this question. It is very fun to hear a dad ask, "which one of the books we've been reading do you like right now?" to his little one.

I was interested in the mother, carrying and a candy bag on behalf of her 14 year old daughter who was "home passing out candy" for her while she accompanied the younger siblings about the neighborhood. Could she have some candy for her daughter? She said her daughter liked, "mysteries, not the old ones but those new ones." Have a Kit Kat, lady.

Still, most of the kids were fairly cheerful about the question. More than one recalled "oh, I remember this place from last year."

Book titles mentioned in return for Reeses Peanutbutter Cups this year included:

Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Harry Potter were the big winners this year.
George Washington's Socks
Percy Jackson
The Bible
Happenstance Found
Monster High
Agatha Christie
Alvin Ho
Cats to the Rescue
Warriors
Short Life of Bree
Twilight
Skeleton Creek
Hunger Games (many)
Green Eggs and Ham
Eragon
Lord of the Rings
Judy Moody
Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can you?
Everybody Poops
Island
Cinderella
Cat in the Hat
FlyGuy
Barbie books
SpongeBob
Chronicles of Vladimir
Looking for Alaska (now THAT was interesting. From a very tall and deep voiced group)
1984
Wake
Bad Girls Don't

Walking Home in the Dark...

Ever since Ichabod Crane was chased by the Headless Horseman, the real and imagined threats that lurk in the darkest shadows have been celebrated in urban legends, novels and picture books.

Bone Dog by Eric Rohmann. Roaring Book, 2011

Gus loves his dog, Ella, but she is getting old and she warns him that she will not be around much longer.  Before she dies she promises Gus that she will always be with him.  Gus is sad and missing his dog as Halloween arrives but he puts on his skeleton costume and goes out trick or treating anyway. On his way home through a graveyard (of course!) he is surrounded by threatening skeletons. Just as they are about to attack, Ella appears as a bone dog to save him. The skeletons are unimpressed until Gus and Ella begin to howl into the night, calling real live dogs to their aid. The final pages confirm and assure the young reader that love never dies and Gus will never be alone.

Rohamann's visual storytelling is cinematic here. He opens and closes the story, viewing Gus and Ella together before an iconic full moon that frames the two friends. The reader (and Ella?) watch from above as Gus sits alone, rakes leaves alone and heads out for trick-or-treating, alone. Once Ella, the bone dog, returns to the scene, the view returns to ground level. The skeletons are at once comic and scary. Rohmann pans their frenzied retreat across a two page spread as they flee from ... turn the page ... the pack of real dogs in pursuit.  The next page turn will be a laugh-out-loud read aloud moment.  This is a beautiful story told with humor, sweetness and delicious creepy moments. I predict this book will not linger for long on the library's return book cart.   I cannot WAIT to share it with children.


On a Windy Night by Nancy Raines Day; illustrated by George Bates. Abrams, 2010

Outstanding read aloud story about a scary walk home on Halloween night.  A young boy's imagination turns shadows, sounds and dark shapes into terrifying threats until the moon light reveals what they really are. This is a perfect Halloween story that acknowledges the thrilling spookiness of the night but reassures too.  Nancy Raines Day heightens the boy's imagination with a classic chant of  "Cracklety-clack, bones in a sack. They could be yours--if you look back."  The words grow in size, across the pages, as the boy's fear grows.  Bates's pen and ink drawings depict the eerie clouds, the threatening tree branches and menacing cornstalks that become skeletons and jack-o-lanterns chasing the child on his way.  The pen and ink work gives a splendid childlike Edward Gorey-ness to the pictures. 


Dark Night by Dorothee de Monfreid. Random House, 2009

As Felix walks through the dark woods, the scary growl from a wolf sends him into hiding.  Another loud growl from a tiger scares away the wolf who is then frightened away by a crocodile. Along with n unlikely small friend and a clever idea Felix turns the tables on the beasts with a bigger "badder" creature of his own invention. Sometimes the first step in overcoming fear is to find a friend and just walk tall.

Halloween: Hubknuckles

Hubknuckles by Emily Herman, Deborah Kogan Ray. Crown, 2010

This is a special anniversary edition of the book, originally published in 1985.  Herman's story feels like it dates from an even earlier time of children's picture books. Her writing has a kind of timeless innocence.

This gentle story of Halloween traditions and a child's belief provokes a yearning in me for a time when elementary schools held costume parades and there were cupcakes instead of the current state of affairs where the day is so controversial that some schools practically shrink from any utterance of the "H' word.  

Maybe it is my own nostalgia but I do yearn for the Halloweens of yore when the night was a celebration of all childish things, candy greed, costumes and make-believe and freedom to roam the streets of the neighborhood in the mysterious dark.

Every Halloween a ghost named Hubknuckles visits Lee's family and dances outside their window.  Is the ghost real?  Lee thinks she wants to know and decides this year she will investigate to discover the truth.  Deborah Kogan Ray's softly rendered illustrations in powdered graphite and pencil lend exactly the right tone of mystery to the story. Hubknuckles, the moon and the leaves outside the window glow in the moonlight.  The story and illustrations balance each other beautifully.

Halloween: Annie Was Warned

Annie Was Warned by Jarrett J. Krosoczka.  Knopf, 2003

In all his books, Jarrett Krosoczka conveys a playful insight into children that is a rare and fine thing.  Anyone who has shared his books as read-alouds can attest to the response to them from young listeners.

His children look out from the page into the eyes of the child holding the book and recognition sparks there.  Krosoczka's "serious" bio on his website mentions that he worked summers at camps, including the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp,  for children dealing with illnesses and other serious life issues.  I understand something about that kind of work as a parent whose child has benefited from similar summer experiences.  Krosoczka has looked into the eyes of children who are facing challenging and profound hurdles in their lives. I think he saw something very elemental at the core of childhood there.  That understanding shines through his work.


His work touches on many aspects of the every day lives of children. A bad, self-inflicted haircut is the reason for Baghead. Class elections in Max for President and dreams of rock stardom echo in the Punk Farm tales.  Lunchtime, the heart and hub of every school day (for better or worse) is acknowledged in the exploits of The Lunch Lady who defends the cafeteria, the school and the students in the graphic novel series.

In Annie Was Warned, Annie's birthday is on Halloween.  She tests her nerve and courage by going to a creepy, haunted? house, on a dare, on Halloween night.  On the book cover, Annie peers around a door.  Her eyes are wide. Her face registers apprehension and fear but she IS moving forward, shining her flashlight into the eyes of the reader, dazzling us with the light and her bravery. Krosoczka's artistic technique, composition, color palette evoke the eeriness of the night and solitude of the child in the book's paintings.  There is a fun and happily-ever-after to reward her courage. 

Halloween clearly inspires his storytelling.  Admire his pumpkins photos on his blog, The JJK Blog.  Each photo could be the jumping off point for a tale or two.

Halloween 2009

And then Night Fell...











...and the winner for the evening is...Twilight, followed by Harry Potter, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, New Moon, Star Wars -- with individual votes for Pendragon, Running Out of Time, Junie B. Cat in the Hat, Goosebumps, Sponge Bob, the Immortals, Warriors, Lightening Thief, Animal Farm, Lord of the Rings, Inkheart, Savvy,and two nonfiction titiles Insects and Trains.

One Pumpkin to Rule them All

How nice it is to have entling no. 2 at home to help out with the pumpkin carving.

This year's pumpkin was too hip for the neighborhood but I think it looks splendid!

Trick or Book?

Well, it was time for Halloween festivities here in the entwood.

Alas, time has been so short this year, there was no time for clever literary pumpkin carving but we did continue our annual tradition of demanding something in return for some treats in your bag.

First of all, you HAVE to say "Trick or Treat." You cannot just shove your bag forward without even a hello.

[Ding-Dong]

Costumed Kiddies: "Trick or Treat"

Chez BookMoot: "Hello Kiddies, Happy Halloween. Who can tell me the name of one of your favorite books?"

I was ever so pleased to hear a chorus of "Oh yeah, I remember this place." Even better were the kids who are so well trained now that they recite the question with us or shout out a book title as we open the door.

Some of the titles mentioned this year included:

2 for Barney
Snakes
Spiderman
Saving Shiloh
"2007 Guinness Book of World Records" (shouted out, loud and clear)
Jack in the Beanstalk
Sea of Monsters
Because of Winn Dixie
various Harry Potters
several Lord of the Rings
Jackie Chan
"Disney Books"
Sponge Bob
Three Little Pigs
Horowitz Horror
The Tale of Despereaux
The Titan's Curse
"I don't have one." (Arrrrrrrrghhhh...)
Like a Song
3 for The Misadventures of Maude March (this is a Texas Bluebonnet book this year)
Tinkerbell
8 for Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo (this is a Texas Bluebonnet book this year)


One of the nicest things about this year's trick-or-treaters is that almost every one of them said "Thank you."