H is for Halloween: Favorite Halloween Storytime books

Halloween Week!!!

I'm so excited.  This is just the week for a Creepy Susie like myself.  Really, it feels like every one of my programs could be Halloween related, but it's exciting when I have an excuse to do more.

You know, sometimes holiday books are just terrible, trying to shoe-horn in too much at a time.  I find Halloween books suffer the least.

These are my Favorite Halloween Storytime books, which could be mixed and matched with some of my Monster Storytime books.

Boris and Bella by Carolyn Crimi, Ill. by Gris Grimly

I adore everything Crimi does, and the illustrations of Grimly.  This is actually the only book that mentions the word Halloween.  Bella Lagrossi is the grossest ghoul on the block.  She's neighbors with Boris Kleanioff, who is an obsessed grime-fighter.  They, of course, hate each other.
This book is about as long as I ever go for a Preschool Storytime, but it's just so often.  I love the names (which will get a laugh from parents) and the illustrations.

Three Little Ghosties by Pippa Goodhart, Ill by. AnnaLaura Cantone

Three Little Ghosties, sitting on posties, eating burnt toasties and telling big boasties!
Love this story.  Love the repetition, the sound, and of course, plenty of opportunities to yell "BOO!" works great at a storytime.  Never actually mentions Halloween, so could be done all year round in theory.

The Curious Demise of a Contrary Cat by Lynne Berry and Luke LaMarca

A story about a cat who refuses to help with the witch's dinner party.  Black and white illustrations, which I adore but I think get mixed results from kids.  The repetition of this book, however, is so wonderful that the kids can help you read half of it.  Also doesn't have Halloween mentioned specifically, so you could use it for a cat Storytime.

Honorable Mentions:

Alpha Oops: H is for Halloween by Alethea Kontis and Bob Kolar

A great, funny little Halloween Alphabet book.  Only trouble, I find it a little difficult to present books like these with a lot of sound bubbles.

Sipping Spiders through a Straw: Campfire Songs for Monsters by Kelly Dipucchio, Ill. by Gris Grimly

Another beautifully illustrated Grimly book on here?  Shocking.  I love songs in a storytime, so some of these would be good to use.  However, many are a little two complicated to teach a preschool.

There you go!  My favorite Halloween stories for kids.  Any you would add to the list?

All Hallow's Read: Zombie Book Round-Up

There are about 600 billion Zombie books out there.  I believe that's an exact figure.  I read a lot of them, but the universe keeps throwing more and more out there.  Some say it's because we are a consumer society and zombies are the ultimate consumers, a morality tale of our fate as a people.  Some say that the zombie hoard is unstoppable and inescapable terror.  Others just think zombies are pretty cool.


Here's a list of my favorite and not-so-favorite Zombie Reads:


Love it:


Breathers: A Zombie's Lament by S.G. Browne

I've already discussed this comedy were self-aware zombies live afterlives of outcasts and attend support groups here.


Zombie Haiku by Ryan Mecum

Don't read it when you're eating pasta for dinner, like I did.


Zombies for Kids and Teens:


Zombies vs Unicorns by Various Authors, Edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

This book is a who's who of the greatest YA authors out there.  Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson is my favorite zombie story in it.


Zombie Chasers by John Kloepfer

Funny little zombie story with great-gross out illustrations and a zombie dog!


Leave it:


Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austin and Seth Grahame-Smith

Jane Austin + Zombies.  Awesome, right?  Surprisingly terribly dull.  A one-note joke that goes to bathroom humor once it know it goes stale.


The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Two people in love held apart more by their own inaction and self-absorption than anything.  Romeo and Juliet they are not.  Zombies are a backdrop to teen angst, and in the end I was rooting for the zombies.


That's a little cruel.  I was absorbed by this book until I reached the end, and then it left me sour grapes.


The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

Reads like a technical manual, which is really the only joke.  Isn't it funny that this book is so serious and is about zombies?  It isn't.  I couldn't finish it.


Recommended to me but haven't checked out:


Feed by Mira Grant


Zombie, Ohio by Scott Kenemore


Zombiekins by Kevin Bolger


The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Cliff Rathburn and Tony Moore


So what are your feelings?  Any of the recommended reads I should avoid or add?  Any of my picks you disagree with?  Are you sick of zombies?


Just remember, Zombie's Were People too.

All Hallow's Read: A Tribute to Frankenstein

Yesterday I got my, "Heroine of Literature" Mary Shelley shirt from thinkgeek.com, and it got me thinking about my difficult relationship relationship with her crowning work.

I first read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley when I was in middle school and I felt it was cool to read harder books than my peers were reading.  This did not result in me being cool, but it did result in my reading a lot of classics as a young person that I would not have the patience for today, all because I stubbornly wanted to prove I could.

Frankenstein was a real slog for me then.  The Victorian language and difficult to like protagonist (because Victor Frankenstein is the protagonist) were hard for me to swallow, but I kept on because I stubbornly refuse to be defeated by a book.  (I've had mixed results with this way of thinking.)

(I adore the ultra-cheesy cover of the copy I read as a kid. It also had a "2 for $1" sticker on it)

I was fairly miserable reading Frankenstein.  Victor Frankenstein gets consumed by the idea of making his creation, taking parts from corpses of animals and human, which makes it unnaturally-sized.  I don't know why it takes the moment that he's given life to the thing for him to realize it is not a beautiful thing, but ugly and terrible, but it does.  So begins a recurring theme in the book.  Victor gets himself in over his head, shirks his responsibility, and lies in bed sick.  I think Victor Frankenstein is probably one of the most sickly characters in literature.  After every tense moment in the book, the bastard ends up in a sickbed having people look after him, comforting him.  He's a deadbeat dad, whiny, premadonna.

The Creature himself makes the move from compassionate character to serial killer in the book as well.  He is smart, and articulate.  He's not the shuffling, mindless corpse that we have come to see him in the media today.  He's cold, calculating, fast, and strong.  He shares a lot in common with the Immortals we see in literature today, vampires and the like, but he is not beautiful like they are.

It was such a challenging read to watch two men consumed.  Victor makes missteps constantly.  The Creature makes terrible choices and is forced into them as well.  When Dr. Frankenstein makes his Creature a bride on the promise that they will go away forever and leave him alone, then tears it apart when he sees how happy his creation is about getting a companion, I about lost it.  What the hell, Victor?  Can't a guy have a lady?

So like I said, I found reading the thing miserable.  It was hard for me to get through both because it was challenging my reading skills and because it is such a dark tale.  When it was finished, however, I was so happy I'd read it.  Not because it's a happy ending because obviously that was never in the cards, but because I was happy that such a book existed in this world and that Mary Shelley brought it to us.

Mary Shelley hung out with the rock stars of the Victorian literary scene: Byron and Percy Byshe Shelley, among others.  There was a whole lot of free love going on in that group, though she loved only her husband.  Like many Victorians she'd seen a lot of death, lost several children, and was obsessed with it as the Victorians were.  She made a brilliant tortured immortal, far more sympathetic than whiny Louis, callous Lestat, directionless Dracula, or, dare I even mention Sparkly Edward.  I even like those guys (well, not Louis or Edward) but I don't love them the way I love Frankenstein's monster.  (Yeah, I'm that girl who will correct you.  He never takes his creators name.)

Say what you will about Kenneth Branaugh's critically panned bit of opulence, Frankenstein.  Branaugh has always put the text in the forefront, and I think he was trying to tear down our notions of a mindless, stumbling corpse.  Frankenstein was a well-spoken, superhuman out for vengeance.  In this day and age, he'd have a comic book.

Classics are one of those things that people know they should read but don't actually do.  I understand, I closed the books on classics after college.  But read Frankenstein. Prepare yourself some mega-angst and a main character who faints as much as a Victorian lady without the excuse of a corset blocking his airflow, but read it anyway.

M is for Monster: My favorite Monstrous Storytime Books

It's a wonderful thing to me that Monsters are so en vogue in picture books.  Monster Storytime allows for:

1. A lot of ROARING, STOMPING, and other excellent mischief making.

2. Awesome monster-related crafting

3. Some of the best Children's books out there.

Nearly all of my colleagues have some Farm Animal Storytime or another, yet the monster books go nearly untouched in any month other than October.  But why give Monster books a season?  Where the Wild Things Are is not a Halloween book.  There's a Monster at the End of this Book is a book about Grover from Sesame Street, a program that has shown us that monsters are acceptable for every day consumption by children (or that monsters might consume children every day, whichever you like.)

I have so many Monster Books I love, so I think I'll do this over several posts, 3 books a post.

Monsters Eat Whiny Children by Bruce Eric Kaplan

This one is sort of an Honorable Mention.  Have you ever read a Children's book as an adult and laughed out loud?  It's awesome when it happens, and this book had me laughing so much I struggled to finish reading it to my niece.  Two children are whining and monsters come to eat them.  Unfortunately, the monster's cannot decide how to prepare their whiny children.  They try to put them in a salad, a sandwich, a burger, etc.  One of the lines that had me in stitches was when they wanted to make a nice Whiny Child Vindaloo, but "sometimes it's hard to decide if you want Indian Food or not."

Now, obviously jokes like that are funnier to adults, and I don't mind "adult" humor in children's books because kids are smarter than we sometimes give them credit.  The only problem with this book is that it sways too much for the adults in the room because of the length and the illustrations.  I don't mind a sort of messy, black and white sketchy style, but with a book of this length a child will.  One of those books that's just "almost" there.  Check it out even with the flaws.

Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

Mo Willems knows monsters and kids.  The man worked on Sesame Street!  The great thing about a lot of his books is that they are wonderful to read but especially great to have read to you.  They lend themselves to performance.  This books is no exception with the monologue Sam has in the middle, which I often try to do quickly and in one breath, the way I figure a child would.  It's also a pretty good story for a "Friendship" storytime, if you are so inclined.

There Was an Old Monster by Rebecca, Adrian, and Ed Emberley

The Emberley's seem to be as fond of monsters as I am since it is time and again the subject of their books.  I could put many on here: Glad Monster, Sad Monster, Go Away Big Green Monster, If You're a Monster and You Know it, etc.  The style of these books is so bold with bright colors contrasted against black that they are always a Storytime favorite, but this one has the line "Ants in his pants" and allows wiggling and "scritchy-scratching", so it's the clear winner.

To be Continued...Mwhahaha.

Okay, perhaps maniacal laughter isn't necessary in a Children's book discussion.

Best Monster Storytime Songs for Little Monsters

There are so many brilliant monster books for preschoolers out there.

In my library I've, at times, come across an anti-Halloween sentiment in parents but Monsters tend to squeak by.  The other great thing about Monster storytime is you have plenty of opportunities to yell "RAWR" which is both entertaining for the kids and annoying to the desk staff.

I've complied my favorite Monster-themed songs, great for Little Monsters.

If You're a Monster and You Know it

Tune: " If you're happy and you know it"

If you're a monster and you know it shake your horns
If you're a monster and you know it shake your horns.
If you're a monster and you know it then your growl will surely show it. RAWR! 
If you're a monster and you know it shake your horns.

Continue with:
...show your claws
...gnash your teeth
...stomp your feet
...give a roar

(There is an Ed and Rebecca Emberley book that is similar to this, though I prefer just to sing it this way.)

5 Little Monsters 

5 little monsters under my bed
1 crawled out from my bed spread
Mama came in then she said!
"No more monsters underneath the bed"

Continue counting down until there are:
"Now there are no more monsters underneath the bed So Go to Sleep!"


Horns and Fangs 

Tune: "Head and Shoulders"

Horns and fangs,
knees and claws,
knees and claws.
Horns and fangs,
knees and claws.
Eyes and ears and tail and paws.


(Faster and Faster!)

Five Little Monsters (Fingerplay)

This little monster has a big red nose
This little monster has purple toes.
This little monster plays all night.
This little monster is such a fright.
And this little monster goes:
"Tee-hee-hee"
"I'm not scary, I'm just silly me."

(Hold up hand and point to each finger)

Monster Pokey

Tune: Hokey Pokey

You Put your right paw in, 

you put your right paw out, 

you put your right paw in and you shake it all about.  

You do the Monster Pokey and you turn yourself around.  

That’s what it’s all about.  

Monster Pokey! Rawr!

Verses: Left paw, Right Claw, Left Claw, tail, horns, teeth, whole Monster self.

(Yes, another Hokey Pokey take off.  So sue me, It's what it's all about!)

Next: My favorite Preschool Monster Books

All Hallows Read: Breathers: A Zombie's Lament by S.G. Browne

Happy All Hallow's Read!

It's a graveyard smash as I review monster books and have monster Storytime tips all month long.

I don't really know how it's much different from the rest of the year because I read monster books then as well.

I've got to get cracking because I've already lost a chunk of the month after I fell off the side of the world post Pirate and Banned Books Week.  I won't be posting everyday usually, but you can more look for my posts Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  Now that I've said that schedule aloud, I'll either totally fail to stick with it or be shamed into doing it.  We'll see.

I figured I'd start with reposting the video book review I did to get on the cast of SpineBreakers, the podcast I contribute to on ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com.  This is the video that convinced me that I would never do another video. I'm sure that is inspiring you to press that play button, but I don't actually hate the video that much (except for that stumble I have at the end and the sound of my own voice).  I just realized that I am not a film maker, even when the film is just pictures with voice over.

But the good thing is this video did help me get on SpineBreakers and was noticed by the author himself, who've I've spoken to a few times online and find to be a pretty cool guy.  By posting this again, he might think I'm stalking him.  I'll just assure his lawyer here that I'm just lauding his book again because I think it's one of the best zombie reads out there, which I think is actually pretty difficult to achieve since I've read a few dogs.  Even if you don't check out the video review, check out the book this October.

Banned Books Week Day 8: Banned Books Save

Last day of Banned Books week!

I love Banned Books Week, and I'm so grateful for all the people who support Banned Books this week and all year round.  I just wanted to end it with some parting thoughts.

This year has been a big one for YA books.  8 of the 10 most frequently banned books in 2010 could be considered Young Adult literature.  The previously mentioned Meghan Cox Gurdon article has created a great deal of controversy by basically vilifying the whole genre.  Then there was the 100 Young Adult Novels for the Feminist Reader list put out by Bitch Magazine that started to pull titles, all but supporting their censorship.  (A roundup of the full controversy can be found here.)

It's also been a hard few years for teens, not as though the teen years aren't always hard.  There have been a shocking number of suicides brought on my bullying and cyberbullying incidents; one of the most high profile ones occurred in my own St. Louis where the bully was actually the mother of a rival student.

Most disturbing about banned books is that it seems that time and again we are taking books away from kids that they most need.  I've mentioned The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier a couple of times this week for a  reason.  I read it last year for Banned Books week and was blown away.  It's such a poignant statement about mob mentality and school bullying.  I can see why educators wanted to have their students read this book in a school setting, so they can understand that bullying isn't new, that they're not alone, and it's always senseless.  But, because of a few cuss words, some teen boys ogling women, and a masturbation scene, it has been banned time and time again.  Is it more important to protect our teens from knowledge of sexism, cussing, and masturbation than it is to let them see the pointlessness of bullying and that no matter how bad it gets, there's always a way out?

When the #YASaves campaign really hit Twitter in earnest, there was story after story of teens who weren't damaged by books, but inspired and helped by books.  A lot of those books were some of the "Dark" YA literature that Gurdon talks about.  A lot of them are banned books.

What I urge people to remember after this Banned Books week is "I don't want my child to read this" does not equal "no child should read this."  A ban withholds a book from a whole population of people, and that book just might have been the book a child or teen needed to save them.