Halloween!

Ghosts in the House by Kazuno Kohara
This is a beautifully illustrated book. The pictures are all made from cut outs of orange, black and white paper and they look great. But this is also a great story, with just the no-nonsense approach to the spooky scary that I really appreciate. I mean if you had ghosts in your house you'd catch them and put them in the washing machine, right?

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler do it again with a cumulative tale about a helpful witch who gets into trouble after giving too many stray animals a ride on her broom. There is also a swamp monster and a dragon. Very Halloween-y.

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
This spider is not very scary, in fact she's much more industrious than your average Halloween arachnid. All the animals on the farm ask if she wants to come and play, but she's busy spinning her web, so that when night time comes all the animals can admire her handywork (picked out in florescent ink in the book).

Bats in the Library by Brian Lies
The bats find an open window into the library and an open window into their imaginations too. I am not massively convinced by this book. It's beautifully illustrated, but I often feel myself stumbling over the text, which is not a good sign. Nevertheless the atmospheric nature of the book is perfect for a Halloween read aloud.

Where the Wild Things Are by by Maurice Sendak
At the moment, it seems this book needs no introduction. But when it comes to not-too-scary monsters, the Wild Things will always win hands down. Remember when you read this one aloud to roar your terrible roar, roll your terrible eyes, gnash your terrible teeth and show your terrible claws.

We'll be singing In the Dark, Dark Street, Row Row Row Your Boat (If you see the Wild Things, don't forget to scream) and Incy Wincy Spider

Monsters

And how not to be scared of them

Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley
Cleverly made cutouts create this monster in all his sharp teethed glory, but he can easily be uncreated if you tell him to go away.

Bootsie Barker Bites by Barbara Bottner
Children can be monstrous. I know, it's not going to make me Mum of the Year, but really, they can. Bootsie Barker is a bully, she pulls hair, destroys property and intimidates our heroine and her pet salamander. Thankfully, this is a brains over brawn story and when the tables are turned and "Bootsie throws a tantrum on the sidewalk." the balance of power is rightfully adjusted.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Here we are again with monstrous children, but then if Max hadn't been a Wild Thing he probably wouldn't have been King of the Wild Things. The illustrations are dynamic and timeless. It's a classic for a reason.

Horns to Toes and Inbetween by Sandra Boynton
This is a little board book with big personality. It's a simple "parts of the body" book, but because we're learning with monsters there are also tails and horns in the picture. I love reading this to preschoolers and asking them to point to their body parts, when it gets to their tails, they always laugh.

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
This author and illustrator are my dream team for read aloud children's books. And The Gruffalo is the best of their great work. Refusing to shy away from a concept as gruesome as the food chain, this book follows the adventures of an extremely fast thinking and fast talking mouse who lives to eat nuts another day.

We'll be singing "There's a Monster in My Closet", "Row Your Boat" and "Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes". The poem will be "A Little Grue" by Roger McGough (which for some strange reason, I know by heart).

Sailing on the Sea

The Snail and the Whale – Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

The Gruffalo dream team do it again! A great book to read aloud with soaring descriptions in bouncy rhyming couplets and illustrations both detailed and cartoonlike. The snail wants to get away from the flock on the rock and decides to hitch a ride with a friendly whale, but when the whale gets frightened by some speedboats and is beached, the snail cannot fail to save his friend.

Pirate Gran - Geraldine Durrant and Rose Forshall

This is the inspiration for this week’s theme. Pirate Gran is published by the National Maritime Museum in the UK, but it’s available in America too. She’s a salty old sea dog who makes ice cream bombes with real gunpowder but thinks it’s more ladylike to drink sherry than rum. One of those great books which will grow with your child’s understanding of the world and consequently it’s fun for grown ups to read too.

Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken – Kate Dicamillo and Harry Bliss

Kate Dicamillo is causing quite a stir in children’s literature at the moment, she won a Newberry medal a few years ago for her young reader’s book “The Tale of Despereux” which has recently been turned into a movie and her newest book in that genre is receiving rave reviews everywhere. Louise is her offering for younger children and does not disappoint. The book is split into three chapters in which Louise goes to sea, joins a circus and leads a mass breakout from a Turkish prison. Yes, I really did just type that (the prison is actually a factory farm and it is this adventure which she feels she must share with her free range friends, back in the henhouse). I will only be reading the first chapter, but all three could be read together if your toddler has good concentration. It’s beautifully written and comically dark in a way that children often really appreciate.

Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak

A classic tale of Max who sails “in and out of weeks and almost over a year, to where the wild things are”. As the mother of a toddler deep in the terrible twos I know that there’s a little bit of Max in all of us. It’s nice to know that the same fierceness that makes you chase a dog with a fork also guarantees not being scared of monsters.

Harold and the Purple Crayon – Crockett Johnson

Another classic story about how far you can go with your imagination and a crayon. The deserving porcupine is probably one of the best character concepts in children’s literature. Of course Harold travels by many means but he does sail in a boat and “made land without much trouble”.

We’ll be singing “Row Your Boat”, “A Sailor Went to Sea” and “The Day I went to Sea” and we’ll read the picture poem “Bitter Winds” by Tim Pointon.