Putting the BOO in BOOks

I don’t have to tell you what day it is today. I’ll bet that your library is decorated in orange pumpkins, black bats, and other slightly scarier critters and creatures. If you had storytime today (as I did), you already had a stash of Halloween stories and songs at your disposal. Maybe you’re having an after school program today if you didn’t have one this past weekend.  I definitely know that many of you have dressed up in honor of the day (‘fess up-you don’t need much encouragement to dress up for anything!).  

So, unwrap another “fun sized” Kit Kat or Snickers bar and pour yourself another cup of apple cider while I tell you about a few of my favorite things-Halloween books! If you don’t like these treats, leave a note in the comments section instead of rolling my house.

Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex is fun any time of year, but including some of the hilarious poems in your elementary age Halloween program will definitely bring some grins and giggles to your group. Shel Silverstein fans will definitely get a kick out of the poems and drawings. I read the title poem during our Halloween program; it was a great bridge between stories.

Readers’ theatre and participatory stories are always a fun way to shake up a storytime. Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman was a big hit during our Halloween program. We had premade signs for the characters in the story-bat, vampire, etc. I asked for volunteers before beginning the story (making sure that I chose a small child for the bat) and prompted the children with their lines. Very simple (if you had more time, you could make masks), but the parents and children loved it!

If you know the Russian folktale “The Enormous Turnip,” then you know the basic story of Big Pumpkin. A witch wants to pluck an enormous pumpkin, but can’t manage to pick it up. Along come various Halloween-ish characters (one by one) who boast that they can pick it up. Ultimately, it’s up to the small bat to do the deed.

For younger audiences, Anne Rockwell’s Apples and Pumpkins works nicely. It’s a simple story of a family’s trip to an apple orchard/pumpkin patch. We see the family pick the fruit, carve the pumpkin, and greet trick or treaters. My group was well versed in the ways of orchards and pumpkin patches, so they related to the familiarity of the story. Not the most glamourous or spooky selection, but if you’re reading to a toddler group or need to avoid overt depictions of witches, ghosts, and the like, this would be a good selection.

Another “can’t miss” title is Linda Williams’s The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. Although the book is a little longer than what my group is currently accustomed to, it had enough of an element of surprise and suspense to keep their attention. For some strange reason, a little old (and unafraid) lady is followed home by a pair of shoes, a shirt, and two gloves, among other things. Although she tells the things that she isn’t afraid, her steps quicken with each new strange encounter. Unfortunately, they follow her home. Although disappointed that they still haven’t managed to scare her, the little old lady and the things manage to work together (the things assemble into a scarecrow). It has nothing to do with trick or treating or ghosts, but there is a pumpkin, scarecrow, and definitely some (tame) spookiness. Inviting the children to go clomp clomp with the shoes, shake shake with the shirt, clap clap with the gloves is entirely up to you. If I were reading with a preschool or kindergarten group, it would be fun. It would have been an exercise in frustration for my toddlers and would have distracted from the story, so I was the only one shaking, clomping, nodding, and so forth. 

Want more treats? Here are some fun Halloween fingerplays (found on a multitude of websites):

Heigh-Ho on Halloween (Tune: The Farmer in the Dell)

The owl goes whoo

The owl goes whoo

Heigh-ho on Halloween

The owl goes whoo

-The bats go eek

-The pumpkin rolls and rolls

-The scarecrow waves goodbye

Orange Pumpkin (Tune: I Am a Little Teapot)

I am an orange pumpkin, big and round

Once upon a time I grew on the ground

Now I have a mouth, two eyes, and a nose

Where did they come from, do you suppose?

When I have a candle shining inside of me

A jack-o-lantern you will see!

Spin Little Spider (Tune: 10 Little Indians)

Spin, spin, little spider

Spin, spin, spin out wider

Spin, spin, little spider

Early in the morning

-Dance

-Jump

(add your own directions)

Books mentioned in this post:

• Rex, Adam.  Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich.  Orlando: Harcourt, 2006.
• Silverman, Erica.  Big Pumpkin.  New York: Macmillan, 1992.
• Rockwell, Anne F.  Apples and Pumpkins.  New York: Collier Macmillan, 1989.
• Williams, Linda.  The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything.  New York:     Thomas Y. Crowell, 1986

Happy Halloween!