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Mid-October update is here!

It seems kinda silly to do it this way, but to avoid repeating work that’s already been done, here’s a link to the post detailing our new update, which just went up tonight.

Part of the update is a printable list of some of my favorite picture book titles for this time of year, titled What Will You Read This Halloween? The titles from the list were also added to the top of our Halloween Book List for Kids page. The list is by no means comprehensive, and if you scroll down to the bottom of that page you’ll find another, longer list that includes additional titles. Note that with a few exceptions, the books on these lists have not actually been reviewed here. Writing the reviews takes a lot longer than reading the books.

At any rate, check out the new Halloween Horrors! update and see what’s new here at MonsterLibrarian.com

Posted on October 18, 2011 by , Reply

Halloween Books, Continued

Lucy, a librarian who read my last post, pointed me to another list of new and not-so-scary books to share at storytime by Nora Rawlinson at EarlyWord, a collection development and readers advisory blog that collects reviews, bestseller lists, and much more in one place. Very nice! These are also mostly current books, although she also listed a couple of her own favorites. It was fun to see Pamela Jane’s Little Goblins Ten on her list- a very cute book that we just received here- and a brand new easy reader. The lack of “scary” easy readers is a frustration of mine. There’s nothing wrong with Biscuit or Henry and Mudge– these are both series a lot of kids love-, but some kids just aren’t motivated by the typical easy readers. They want the spooky stuff. I’ve noticed a few more titles like this recently, and am glad to see that this is changing.

In other news, I was pointed toward a blog called A Book-lovers’ Review, which is holding a contest that looks like a lot of fun, if you like either YA or adult paranormal fiction. It’s called “Trick or Treat Spook-tacular”, and there is a giveaway of a selection of titles, many of them signed, every day until October 31. In the interests of full disclosure, I haven’t encountered this one before and don’t know much about it. According to the reviewer, she includes information about content in her reviews, which could be useful, but this is definitely not a professional review site. Still, the contest looks really cool! I wish I knew how she managed to collect all these signed books, because I’d love to do this kind of giveway for you all right here!!

Enjoy!

Posted on October 17, 2011 by , Reply

Pumpkins and Skeletons: Booklist’s Suggestions and Classroom Connections

A fresh look at Halloween is always intriguing, and Booklist’s October 15 suggestions are really kind of fun. A librarian who emailed us recently told us a children’s librarian who used our Halloween List for Kids found many books to promote for Halloween that were already in her collection, that she hadn’t even thought of. And Booklist made some suggestions here that really extend the connections Halloween has to nonfiction topics outside the picture books and the 398’s (that’s folklore and fairy tales, for those not intimately familiar with the Dewey Decimal System). Joke books, poetry, and intermediate level spooky mysteries pepper their list of suggested titles published in the current year. What’s most interesting, though, that if you scroll down past that list, you’ll find their suggestion that a time of year that traditionally includes skeletons and blood could be extended into displays, programs, or lessons about, well, skeletons and blood (as well as other parts of the human body). I love this idea! And it’s even linked to lesson plans.

I’m sad to report that my son’s elementary school will not have a Halloween party or Halloween parade… no mention of Halloween at all, as far as I can tell. It’s a first for me. as I’ve never actually not experienced this, as either a kid, school librarian, or parent. Just look at all the ways to incorporate the trappings of the holiday into engaged learning experiences! Please, don’t be afraid to invite the holiday in. Your kids will love you for it, and learn from it as well.

Posted on October 16, 2011 by , Reply
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