We had the major Halloween celebration at the base library on Monday. There was supposed to be a costume exchange as part of the celebration, but I think the powers that were in charge planned it too late, as several of the kids came to storytime in costume, and those that didn't wear a costume talked about what they were going to be on the big night.
That aside we had a fun, interactive story time. We had two flannels: "Five Little Pumpkins" with lots of counting and whooshing (the audience was the wind, of course!) and "Go Away, Big Green Monster." This is the second time I have tried something with a book based flannel; I read the book by Ed Emberley, with its wonderful die cut design and then the kids retold the story as I put up and took down the flannel pieces. The kids really enjoy doing this, and it helps them with story sequencing and remembering story details. We also sang a great song with a number of Halloween Noises and I dug out two homemade bat puppets for the rhyme "Two Little Bats" which is my Halloween version of "Two Little Blackbirds"
Two Little Bats hanging in their cave,Whether it was the puppets or the familiar rhyme, we did it twice and all the kids did it amid smiles and giggles.
One named Jill and one named Dave
Fly away, Jill. Fly Away, Dave.
Come back, Jill. Come back, Dave.
In addition to Go Away, Big Green Monster! Here are the rest of the books we read:
Ollie's Halloween by Olivier DunreaMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
All of our favorite Dunrea characters, Gossie and Gertie, Peedie, Boo Boo, and Ollie, are costumed and ready for a big Halloween adventure. We follow them through the night barnyard with all of its scary sounds and images. It is, after all, "Halloween night. A night to betware. A night to scare." The text is simple and the illustrations are captivating being sweet and scary and funny all at the same time. The kids at my storytime loved this book and had some fun counting jack-o-lanterns and whooting like owls and yelling, "boo!" as part of the experience.
Boo, Bunny! by Kathryn O. GalbraithMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a beautifully illustrated fun to read-aloud book. There are lots of scary shadows, great sound words in the text and two very cute, very scared fuzzy bunnies that my storytime audience loved. They hung on every word of the simple text and were captivated by the illustrations. The message, that life is much less scary and much more fun comes through loud and clear when you have "a paw to hold" came through loud and clear and everyone was smiling at our two brave bunnies when I closed the book.
Haunted Party by Iza TrapaniMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a wonderful counting book which is also a great Halloween read-aloud. Mr. Ghost is hosting a party, and in small groups the guests arrive: two spooky skeletons, three gruesome goblins...all the way up to nine morbid mummies. The are all eating, flying, and "kicking up their heels" at this very active party. That is, until someone very scary rings the doorbell: ten cute, smiley faced trick or treaters. The nine terrified mummies leave first...followed by the eight fleeing witches...until Mr Ghost is left alone sitting on his porch. The illustrations are soft and lovely, the kids help count and the text contains some pretty rich vocabulary with words like "morbid" and "cuisine" and "extraordinary." That it was "sweet and sunny" children that terrified the guests brought a laugh from all the parents/caregivers in my audience - which was a nice bonus.
Very Scary by Tony JohnstonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
The illustrations in this book are lovely, from the orange pumpkin moon to the big glowing jack-o-lantern on the last page. The largest pumpkin in the patch soaks up the moonlight and because of its bright shimmering glow, and charms the owl, cat, and witch. When a group of children find it and carve a face into it, the pumpkin frightens everyone. The rhyming text has lots of sound words, and while there are all the images we associate with Halloween, Halloween is not mentioned in the text.
Next Monday: More Halloween Fun!
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