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Halloween Scares for Beginning Series Readers

Series books get a bad rap. Newly minted independent readers LIVE for series books. As in any genre fiction, there are conventions to every series book– similar structure, predictable plots, characters who appear consistently (and can usually be described in just a couple of words) and character types that repeat (obnoxious jokester, daredevil, athlete, etc.)

These are great for beginning readers. They follow the familiar characters through a story that allows them to use their new skills to predict what happens next and solve a mystery or survive an adventure. Series books allow kids to put into practice the skills they have mastered to really become independent readers.

Are series books for beginning readers great literature? Most are probably not. But, while some of them drive me stinkin’ crazy (Geronimo Stilton, anyone?) some are really good, fun reads, occasionally informative, and with mystery, adventure, and suspense to grab any reader… and often, they include kids just like the ones who might be reading the books. And whether you or I like the writing style or the characters or not… these books are sticking around. Goosebumps and its related series, which aren’t included on this list, are now reaching a second generation of readers! Got a series reader looking for a Halloween book? I’ve got some lists for you. The first is a list of series that touch on scary or supernatural topics, usually with a generous dose of humor. Following that, I’ve got a list of Halloween titles from series you might already recognize on the shelf that you can hand to your favorite Geronimo Stilton fan. Enjoy!

 

Scary and Supernatural Series for Kids 

43 Old Cemetery Road: Dying to Meet You (book 1) by Kate Klise and M. Sarah Klise (grades 3 and up)

Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist: Flight of the Phoenix (book 1) by R.L. LaFevers and Kelly Murphy (grades 3 and up)

The Poison Apple Books: The Dead End (book 1) by Mimi McCoy. This series is written by various authors. (grades 3 and up)

My Sister the Vampire: Switched (book 1) by Sienna Mercer (grades 3 and up)

Scooby-Doo Readers, Level 2: The Map in the Machine (book 1) by Gail Herman (grade 1 and up)

The Hamlet Chronicles: Seven Spiders Spinning (book 1) by Gregory Maguire (grades 3 and up)

The Bailey School Kids: Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots (book 1) by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton (grades 2 and up)

Dragonbreath: Dragonbreath (book 1) by Ursula Vernon (grades 3 and up)

Tales from the House of Bunnicula: It Came From Underneath the Bed! (book 1) by James Howe and Brett Helquist (grades 2 and up)

Creepella von Cacklefur:  The Thirteen Ghosts: A Geronimo Stilton Adventure (book 1) by Geronimo Stilton (grades 1 and up)

 

If you have a series lover already and want to get them into the Halloween spirit, you are in luck… many popular children’s series have titles that are specifically targeted for Halloween or have a supernatural tie-in.

 

 Individual Halloween Titles in Popular Series Books

Geronimo Stilton: Cat and Mouse in a Haunted House (book 3) by Geronimo Stilton (grades 2 and up)

Ivy and Bean: The Ghost That Had To Go (book 2) by Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall (grades 1 and up)

Stink Moody: Stink and the Midnight Zombie Walk (book 7) by Megan MacDonald and Peter Reynolds (K and up)

Magic Tree House: Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve (book 30) by Mary Pope Osborne and Sal Murdocca (K and up)

Junie B., First Grader: Boo! And I Mean It! (book 24) by Barbara Park and Denise Brunkus (grades 1 and up)

Bailey School Kids: Mrs. Jeepers’ Scariest Halloween Ever (Bailey School Kids Super Special #7) by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones (grades 1 and up)

Bailey School Kids: Aliens Don’t Carve Jack O’Lanterns (Bailey School Kids Holiday Special Edition) by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones. (grades 1 and up)

A to Z Mysteries: Sleepy Hollow Sleepover(Super Edition #4) by Ron Roy(K and up)

Dragonbreath: No Such Thing As Ghosts (book 5) by Ursula Vernon (grades 3 and up)

American Girl: Meet Molly, An American Girl: 1944 (book one) by Valerie Tripp and Nick Backes (grades 3 and up)

Piper Reed: Piper Reed, Campfire Girl (book four) by Kimberly Willis Holt (grades 3 and up)

Nate the Great: Nate the Great and the Halloween Hunt (book twelve) by Marjorie Weiman Sharmat and Marc Simont (K and up)

Cam Jansen: The Mystery At The Haunted House by David Adler (book thirteen) by David A. Adler and Susanna Natti (grades 2 and up)

Henry and Mudge: Henry and Mudge Under the Yellow Moon (book 3) by Cynthia Rylant  and Sucie Stevenson(K and up)

 

I hope you and your series reader find something here that works for a nice creepy Halloween read. Enjoy!

Posted on October 30, 2012 by , Reply

Help a Reader Out: Going to Grandma’s House

A mystery keyword searcher is looking for…

…a children’s scary story about a little boy visiting Grandma and not going to sleep.

It could be Henry and Mudge and the Bedtime Thumps, which is about a little boy visiting his grandma and not going to sleep, but if you’re looking for something scarier, this probably isn’t the one our searcher is looking for (although, if you’d like to check it out, it is part of a great series of easy readers by Cynthia Rylant).

But I suspect that it is Monster Night at Grandma’s House, by Richard Peck, published in 1979. It has wonderful, scary illustrations to go along with Peck’s excellent storytelling. Sadly, it is out of print, but you can find used copies on Amazon, or possibly at your local library, which is where I initially discovered it.

Any other suggestions?

Posted on October 9, 2012 by , Reply

Help a Reader Out: The Babysitter

A mystery keyword searcher is looking for… a scary book about a babysitter telling a couple of kids a scary story.

Gosh, babysitters figure in so many scary stories, but usually (oddly, considering that they’re the ones supposedly in charge) they’re victims. I don’t know if our mystery searcher has a specific book in mind or is just looking for any story that fits these criteria. If it’s something specific, I don’t know that I have an answer, but there is one extremely creepy short story I know of where a babysitter tells her charges a very creepy story. That story is “The Specialist’s Hat”, and it appears in the short story collection Pretty Monsters, by Kelly Link. If anyone out there has knowledge of a BOOK with this theme, please post it in the comments below.

Thanks!

ETA:  It looks like we have a winner! If you haven’t checked out the comments below, Jericho suggested  “When Nobody’s Home: Fifteen Baby-Sitting Tales of Terror” by Judith Gorog.  If you’re interested in finding out more about her or her books, I did respond in the comments, but I’ll copy it below, too. Here’s what I said:

I am not personally familiar with Judith Gorog’s books, but it looks like she was responsible for a lot of scary books and short story collections for children and young teens, mostly written in the 1980′s and 1990′s (this particular title was published in 1998). Since we get a lot of requests for the scary stuff for kids in these age groups, I’ll list some of the titles I found at the Pennsylvania Center for the Book (for the entire article click here). One review I saw for “In a Messy, Messy, Room”(at the lower end of the age range) recommended setting the book out with Alvin Schwartz’s “In a Dark, Dark, Room” and “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”, so if you can find them, they look like they’re worth checking out!

A Taste for Quiet and Other Disquieting Tales. New York: Philomel, 1982.
When Flesh Begins to Creep. London: Gollancz, 1986.
Caught in the Turtle. New York: Philomel, 1983.
No Swimming in Dark Pond and Other Chilling Tales. New York: Philomel, 1987.
Three Dreams and a Nightmare and Other Tales of the Dark. New York: Philomel, 1988.
In a Messy, Messy Room, and Other Strange Stories. New York: Philomel, 1990.
Winning Scheherazade. New York: Atheneum 1991.
On Meeting Witches at Wells. New York: Philomel, 1991.
Please Do Not Touch. New York: Scholastic (Point Horror), 1995.
When Nobody’s Home: Thirteen Tales for Tonight. New York: Scholastic, 1994.
Zilla Sasparilla and the Mud Baby. Cambridge: Candlewick, 1995.
In a Creepy, Creepy Place and Other Scary Stories. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.

Posted on October 2, 2012 by , 2 comments
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