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!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There's No Such Thing as a Dragon

There's No Such Thing as a Dragon by Jack Kent (known for his syndicated comic strip King Aroo) is the hilarious story of Billy Bixbee who awakes one morning to find a dragon, the size of a kitten, on his bed. He pats the dragon on its head and its tail begins to wag. When Billy goes downstairs to tell his mom about the dragon, he hears, "There's no such thing as a dragon." Billy returns to his room and ignores the dragon since there's no such thing. As Billy continues with his day, the dragon works very hard to make his presence known. It tries on Billy's pajamas, eats his pancakes, takes a nap and chases the bread truck. With great determination, Billy and his mom continue to ignore the presence of the dragon even though it has now grown from the size of a kitten to the size of the house. It's Billy who realizes that the dragon simply wants to be noticed and pats the dragon on the head. This allows the dragon to become smaller and once again the size of a kitten. With the dragon laying in mother's lap, she exclaims, "I don't mind dragons THIS size. Why did it have to grow so BIG?" To which Billy replies, "I'm not sure, but I think it just wanted to be noticed."

This story brings Emmy great giggles! She enjoys the cartoon like illustrations and especially likes the page when the dragon chases the bread truck since the entire house goes with it. Whether Jack Kent realized it or not, he wrote a story that speaks to anyone who deals with the emotions of a young child on a daily basis. Parents and teachers alike will understand the dragon's determination to be noticed as it parallels the behavior of a child who MUST be seen and heard! This story reminds me that anything, whether it is an emotion or a problem, is much more manageable if we acknowledge it, rather than ignore it and allow it to grow bigger.

(Thanks, Carrie, for reminding me of this book and allowing the message of emotional connection to sink in even deeper!)