Scarecrow Pete

Autumn is my very favorite time of year.  The cooler days, colorful leaves and pumpkin everything brings me so much joy!  Emmy also enjoys this season, but it takes her a bit longer to make the transition from the hot summer days to the chillier weather.  We both look forward to our town's Fall Festival every Columbus Day (or Indigenous People's Day) weekend.  Our little New England town dresses itself up for the event.  Market Square downtown is decorated with corn stalks, hay bales and pumpkins. Businesses in town participate in the festival by creating a scarecrow and attaching it to our lampposts.  This is our favorite part of the festival.  We enjoy seeing all of the creative ideas used to build the scarecrows as some represent the business while others showcase a favorite character.  

Here are some of our favorite photos from the past several years.

Before we go to check out the scarecrows, Emmy and I enjoy reading ~ Scarecrow Pete by Mark Kimball Moulton.  Now, before you think that this is a book to read during Autumn, let us tell you otherwise.  First of all on the opening pages, the reader is met with this quote, "Why, I can go most anywhere by reading a good book." These words set the stage for this most enjoyable book where a young boy discovers that the scarecrow in his family's cornfield can not only talk, but enjoys a good book! Moulton tells the story through rhyme in the form of a very long poem.  It is delightful to read out loud as the words just roll right off your tongue. 

"Now this is nice," said Scarecrow Pete, "a beautiful fine day, 

a brand-new friend to talk to, and my belly full of hay."  

"A brand-new friend?  Do you have more?" I asked my 

Scarecrow Pete.  "If you are always tied up here, how do you ever meet?"  

"That's easy - I imagine them!  I meet friends, near and far.  

I close my eyes and think of them, then poof!  Why, there they are!"

"I do the same to travel," he continued, with a look.  

"Why I can go most anywhere by reading a good book." 

And second of all, the young boy is on his summer vacation and doesn't think that he needs to read, but when the scarecrow asks him to read him a book from the suitcase by his knee, he hesitantly obliges.  As the boy reads many classic stories such as Moby Dick, Peter Pan, Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland, he finds himself becoming a voracious reader.

"I never forget those days, that summer long ago, for that was when I 

realized how much books can help you grow.  They teach, enchant and captivate, 

enlighten and cajole.  They inspire imagination and they touch your very soul!" 

To go along with the beautiful verse are the gorgeous illustrations by Karen Hillard Good.  Each page is filled from edge to edge with enchanting drawings in subtle colors.  

Emmy is always delighted to see so many of her favorite books in Scarecrow Pete's suitcase especially another one of Moulton's books, A Snowman Named Just Bob, which we read every winter.  Emmy loves that the boy and the scarecrow become pen pals at the end and we both find ourselves loving the very last page in the book every time we read it.  

"You can do most anything, meet anyone you please, 

travel anywhere you like, and do it all with ease.  

Just find a place that's comfortable - a nice, warm cozy 

nook - and lose yourself among the pages of a favorite book!"

Emmy and I would recommend any book by Mark Kimball Moulton, but since it's getting close to Halloween, be sure to read Miss Fiona's Stupendous Pumpkin Pies!

Costumes Inspired by Children's Books - Part Two

In my last post I shared how book characters can become very creative costumes for Halloween or for Children's Book Week.  Since that time, I sat down with my little reader and asked her to remember some of her favorite picture book characters and then we discussed which of these characters would make interesting costumes.  Here are seven of Emmy's choices:

1)  Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

Emmy has always loved the adventures that Harold went on through his purple drawings.  She said that this costume would be easy to put together. "Well, just get a white shirt and draw on it with a purple fabric marker and then carry a purple crayon around with you." Here is a really cute image that I found on the  web that shows how this could become a family costume.

2) Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola 

Strega Nona has been a favorite character of Emmy's for a long time.  When she was very little and we were cooking butter noodles or spaghetti for dinner, she would always say "Enough, enough pasta pot!" and would blow three kisses into our magic pasta pot.  Emmy suggests wearing a long dress with an apron, a scarf on your head and carrying a pot with yarn for noodles. Here is the most adorable image of this costume idea!

3)  A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond

The friendly bear from deepest, darkest Peru with his battered suitcase and duffle coat would make a super cute costume according to Emmy.  Grab a blue coat, a red hat and a some sort of suitcase and you are all set.  Oh, don't forget to pack a marmalade sandwich!"  Here are two inspiring images for this fun costume.  

4)  The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch

I love this book for its portrayal of a strong girl character who just happens to be a princess.  Emmy loves the reversal of the princess and the prince role.  After the prince tells the girl to go home and come back when she looks more like a princess, Emmy would always exclaim quite loudly,  "That Ronald is a real bum!  I'm glad Elizabeth didn't marry him."  I agree!  Here is Emmy's advice on how to create a Princess Elizabeth costume:  wear a white or black long sleeved shirt and leggings then get a large brown grocery bag and cut out holes for your head and your arms and wear this over your clothes, be sure to make a princess crown out of yellow paper. Check out this cute image! 

5)  Olivia by Ian Falconer

When Emmy was little, we would read the book Olivia over and over again. Her favorite page was the one that showed Olivia getting dressed in all of her red outfits.  Whenever Emmy wore red she would claim to be Olivia.  If you are interested in this costume then Emmy suggests to get a headband and attach pig ears, paint your nose with a pink circle and two black slots to look like a snout, then wear black and white striped leggings, a red dress, black shoes and be sure to accessorize with a red bow and a red pair of sunglasses! Here's a picture for inspiration.

6)  Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

Emmy would laugh and laugh at the monkeys in this book.  She loved to repeat the sound that the monkeys made and could often be found putting all of her hats on her head and saying rather loudly, "Caps, caps for sale.  Fifty cents a cap!"  Here is Emmy's idea of how to become the peddler in this story - wear grey pants and a black jacket with a bow tie, stack as many hats as you can on top of your head (use safety pins to attach them together), draw a mustache above your upper lip and carry a stuffed monkey or two around with you.

7) The Jolly Postman by Allan and Janet Ahlberg

Delivering mail was always one of Emmy's favorite activities when she was little.  She would find one of my purses and put it on like a mail bag and fill it with papers that she had drawn on.  She would then pretend to deliver the mail all over the house.  After we read The Jolly Postman, her play became a retelling of this story as she created letters to nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters and delivered them "all across fairy tale land" as she called it.  Emmy suggests that you wear a big blue coat or shirt, a red and white striped scarf, a blue hat and boots.  Be sure to fill a mail bag with letters and maybe even walk your bike with you!  Here is a photo that should get your creative juices going.  

We hope that you are inspired by our book character costumes and would love to hear your ideas, too!  Leave a comment and let's see if we can grow this list of costume ideas!

Costumes Inspired by Children's Books - Part One

Halloween is just around the corner and answers to the question, "What are you going to be for Halloween?" can be heard all around me.  I have always been inspired by characters in books when it came down to creating a costume.  When I taught elementary school, celebrating Halloween through book characters was the way to go.  One year I was Ms. Frizzle from the The Magic School Bus series followed by The Rainbow Fish the next year, another year I was the tree in Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and even portrayed Miss Nelson from Miss Nelson is Missing! with a costume change midday to Miss Viola Swamp.  Somewhere among my teaching memories are photographs of these costumes.  As going through my storage unit in search of these photos is not on the agenda today, I am instead including some photos I found on the web that might inspire you to become one of these characters.

Another great time to dress up as a book character is during Children's Book Week.  Usually celebrated at the beginning of May, it's a great time to to bring books to life in your classroom or at home.  I remember one year when a little girl in my class came dressed as the main character in The Bad Case of Stripes.  Her mom meticulously painted stripes on her face, neck and arms.  She wore striped tights, a pink dress and a bow in her hair. It was awesome!  Here are two inspiring photos found on the web of that idea. 

Emmy's early Halloween costumes were inspired a bit by book characters as well as her personality. On her first Halloween she was Tigger.  This was inspired by her bouncy time in Mommy's belly and her need to move throughout her early months as well as our love of all things Winnie the Pooh.  Next up was a lion inspired by the book The Happy Lion (she loved exclaiming, "Bonjour Happy Lion" and "Au Revoir Happy Lion") as well as her ability to ROAR on command.  On her third Halloween, Emmy was a clown inspired by a recent trip to the circus as well as the book Circus Caps for Sale (she loved the page where the clowns were using the caps in their act).  Click HERE to see photos of Emmy on Halloween as well as read our post about one of our favorite Halloween books - Monster Needs a Costume.

Stay tuned for Costumes Inspired by Children's Books - Part Two which will highlight some more character costumes from our favorite children's books!

Monster Needs a Costume

Autumn is here!  The trees are exploding with color, there is a chill in the air and apples and pumpkins are everywhere.  This is our favorite time of the year.  Halloween is just around the corner, so the question "What will you be for Halloween?" is on Emmy's mind.  Each year we go back and look at all of her Halloween photos.  We giggle and reminisce about days gone by.  After Halloween this year, we plan on putting the photos into a book with a little description under each written by Emmy and adding to it each Halloween.  We will be sure to share that with you when we are finished.  For now here are photos of Emmy in her costumes from the past eight years.

First Halloween
Tigger

Second Halloween
Lion ROAR

Third Halloween
Silly Clown

Fourth Halloween
Dancing Princess

Fifth Halloween
Fairy Princess

Sixth Halloween
Snow Fairy Princess

Seventh Halloween
Ladybug

Eighth Halloween
Dark Ninja

I love looking back at her sweet face and seeing the changes that have occurred with each passing year. This year was the first one to move out of the princess/fairy world and enter into a spookier world - Dark Ninja!  She has already told me to be prepared for next year because she is planning on being a vampire.

We have no trouble at our house deciding on what to be for Halloween and have never changed our minds, but I have heard of children that come up with at least ten different costume ideas and have trouble choosing just one.  Well if this sounds like your child, we have the most perfect book recommendation for you - Monster Needs a Costume by Paul Czajak illustrated by Wendy Grieb

Emmy and I recently attended the Book Launch for this wonderful book at our local bookstore - Jabberwocky Bookshop.  We had a great time making a monster mask, talking with the author, listening to the story being read aloud and enjoying some yummy cake.

Czajak uses rhythm and rhyme to tell the story of a Monster who can't make up his mind on what he wants to be for Halloween.  I LOVE the way the boy takes care of Monster in the story as a parent would take care of him.  Emmy LOVES all of Monster's ideas and can relate to wanting to wear the costume every single day.  Grieb's humorous illustrations add plenty of playfulness to Czajak's story.

I am always inspired when I meet a children's book author especially when he is celebrating his very first picture book.  Emmy and I love to hear how an author gets his idea for a book and Paul's story was interesting indeed as his idea came straight from his daughter.  Listening to his daughter play in the back seat of the car, he heard her say to her doll, "My monster needs a haircut."  From those five words began a series of books about Monster.

Take a peek at this very endearing book.  We hope it finds a place in your hearts as it has in ours...

Emmy and I are very excited for book two in the Monster & Me series, Monster Needs His Sleep, coming out in April 2014.

Not So Creepy Halloween Stories

"Mitzi liked creepy things.

Creepy bedroom slippers

Creepy breakfast cereal.

Creepy relatives.

So, naturally, when she

decided to get a pet,

she wanted the creepiest

pet possible."

Despite Mitzi being a witch and loving all things creepy, the book Hoodwinked, by Arthur Howard, is a wonderfully non-creepy book for those of us just getting into spooky things. After several attempts at finding the perfect creepy pet at the Cackle & Company pet shop, Mitzi discovers her perfect pet is an adorable orange cat she names Hoodwink.

"And strange as it seems, she didn't mind one bit

that he was adorable. After all, she said,

looks aren't everything."

I have read this book to Emmy every day for weeks, but the best reader of this creepy book is Emmy herself. So listen in as she reads aloud Hoodwinked.

(By the way, anytime Emmy starts to read a book to me, she will say..."I'm going to read it differently." I find this so cute. She usually has the character's names and the plot down pat, but will add her own lines and voices which makes listening to her read a complete joy.)

If you have a beginner reader at your house, you may be familiar with Arthur Howard's illustrations as he draws the pictures for the Mr. Putty and Tabby books written by Cynthia Rylant.

If you are looking for another Halloween book that is a bit scary, but not too much, try There Was An Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams. Emmy LOVES this one especially when the the pumpkin head says "BOO, BOO!" The assorted items of clothing found in the story have a calling to scare something, but when the old lady bravely says, "I'm not afraid of you." the unhappy look on the pumpkin head gives the the old lady an idea. I won't give away the ending, but here is a hint in the form of a song:

Scarecrow

(tune: I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a little scarecrow

Stuffed with hay,

Standing watch in my field all day.

When I see a crow

I like to shout:

"Hey, Mr. Crow, you'd better get out!"

Oh, and one more sweet book that is a bit of a creepy Halloween story and a

great book for bedtime - Who Wants a Dragon? by James Mayhew. An adorable pink dragon is lost in the night looking for his home and his adventures take him around the kingdom where he ends up frightening most everyone until his Mommy flies by... "She'll cuddle him, and kiss him, and help him sleep tight."

Emmy and I really enjoy books by James Mayhew. You may remember our post on Katie in London. Mr. Mayhew writes a wonderful blog where I just found out his struggle in creating another series of books based on his son during the boy's younger years. The first book is titled

Boy and is set to be republished next summer. It looks so

endearing! If you are interested in finding out about the struggle to get this series going and published check out this post on Mayhew's blog.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Happy Halloween!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~