I love reading to my boys. We always read at least two books, more if they are shorter, and even though it comes at the time of day when we are the most tired, it is often my favorite part of the day. We've really been enjoying our trips to the library and can't leave without at least 10 books.
My youngest is old enough now (two years old) that I can read to them both at the same time and he often listens. We lay in bed together, in the dark with a flashlight, and I have one of them on each side of me.
I have a lot of books I want to share with you, so I'm going to try to start doing this as a regular series, each with a different theme. Today I'm going to feature books about Halloween that are not scary. My boys are four and two, so we aren't really into frightening them right before bed yet. These are all my personal picks and none are here as a sponsored review.
If there are any books that you have been enjoying with your kids this time of year, please post in the comments and let us know what you like! Happy Halloween!
This book is simply beautiful. The story is haunting, poetic and thoughtful. I love Stillwater, the giant Buddhist panda. We first met him in the original book Zen Shorts. In this ghost story, Stillwater challenges us to think about who we are, what we can be and how we can change. It's one of those books that makes you think and talk about it after. The paintings are just fantastic. It's no wonder that these books speak to me, I didn't realise until I sat down to write this that the author and illustrator, Jon Muth, also illustrated a comic book, Moonshadow, that I bought years ago for the gorgeousness of the artwork. I love nothing better than when my life before kids meets up with my life with kids. And that reminds me that I can't wait until the boys are old enough to dig through my comic collection and be transported. Here's a more complete review.
Too Many Pumpkins
by Linda White, illustrated by Megan Lloyd
This book is so much fun. The lady in the story hates pumpkins, but ends up with a yard full of them. It's the perfect making lemonade out of lemons story and it also shows a very interesting thing about the natural world, that sometimes, even when you ignore something, it is able to thrive. The illustrations are colorful and lively. Megan Lloyd also illustrated The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything, another fabulous Halloween book. However, I am confused about whether it is the same author. Linda Williams is credited with the second book, so they have the same first name and it seems to be about the same character and it is the same illustrator, but I couldn't find any information about it. All of that aside, both books are wonderful reads for Halloween. Here's another review.
Littlebat's Halloween Story
by Diane Mayr and illustrated by Gideon Kendall
This is a sweet, and a bit sad, little story about a baby bat who lives in the attic of the library. Every morning he hears the librarian tell a group of children a story and he desperately wants to get closer to see the pictures in the books, but the one time he accidentally falls into the room he frightens everyone. His mother tells him that there is one day coming when he will be able to go listen to story time. It's suspenseful and the passing of time is indicated by things changing in the library. It's such a relief when Littlebat is able to attend story time, can you guess on which day? Here's another review by a "professional readiologist".
Five Little Pumpkins by Dan Yaccarino
I love this short little Halloween song. Milo is learning it at pre-school, so we've been singing it at home too. This is a board book, so it's a good one for the littler kids. "Five little pumpkins, sitting on a gate, the first one says, oh my it's getting late, the second one says, there are witches in the air, the third one says, but we don't care, the fourth one says, let's run and run and run, the fifth one says, we are ready for some fun, Ooooo Ooooo goes the wind and out goes the light, and the five little pumpkins roll out of sight."
How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin
by Margaret McNamara and G. Brian Karas
This book isn't specifically about Halloween but it's close enough. Set in a classroom and looking at pumpkins from a scientific and mathematical point of view, the students discover that you can't always judge a book by it's cover, or in this case, determine how many seeds are in a pumpkin simply by how big it is. And of course there are parallels made between that and how tall the children are in the story. The message is that small and short are good too. Here's more pumpkin math.
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