Halloween Book Reviews

 

A. Pumpkin Heads By Wendell Minor Scholastic

The children enjoyed this book for several reasons.       

1. The large text

                             2. The illustrations

                             3. The pumpkin faces

Teachers could use this book to make comparisons big/small and high/low.  This book can also be used for facial expression and discuss different feelings/emotions.

 

B. Trick or Treat Countdown By Patricia Hubbard Scholastic

We enjoyed this book for its:

1.  brightly coloured illustrations

2.     counting

Every few pages of this book a line would read “All make-believe on Halloween”.  The children and I liked this so we could reinforce the dress-up for fun aspect of Halloween.  This book also had us counting different Halloween symbols and the children enjoyed guessing what would be next.

C. Corduroy’s Halloween By Don Freeman

Here are a few notes of what the children said about this book:

·        It was funny when we lift the flap.

·        There was a cat on almost every page.

·        I liked the pictures.

With this book, we could make predictions about what was under the flap, listen for clues in the text and discuss trick or treating.

 

D. The Widow’s Broom By Chris Van Allsbuurg

At first the children were afraid to read this book due to the cover and illustrations.  It did not have animated illustrations like our previous books.  Instead there were hand drawn pictures.

The children were afraid at first about the witch and the axe.  Later, as we read into the book, they really began to enjoy it.

The children found it funny and their favourite character was the broom. They really liked it when the broom played the piano. 

I would definitely read this book again.  I think it can also provide a moral lesson. Read it with the lights off.

 

E. How Do You Say Hello to a Ghost?

By Robert A. & Marlene J. McCracken 

This book was made into a large book format for the children to pick up and read at anytime.  They really liked the repetitive text and large font.

This was a funny book to read aloud especially when the teacher changes the voice for the different ways to say hello e.g. in the morning, afternoon etc.  

These books were chosen and brought in by children

1. Don’t Go Up Haunted Hill…Or Else! By I.K. Swobud and Illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell

 

The children enjoyed this book for it’s suspense and unpredictable ending. It was a great book to read to children because it gives the teacher an opportunity to use different voices.

 

An activity the children did with this book was to use pencil crayons and draw a town similar to the one in the story.

 

 

This is what the children said about the book:

"I like the cat", "I like when the dog chased the cat", "I was scarred of the haunted hill but it is funny", "haunted hill is not scary", "I like the costumes".

 

2. Trick-or-Treat Faces A Glowing Book You Can Read in the Dark. By Judith Moffatt

 

The children really responded well to this book. It has only two words on each page and very colourful illustrations. When we read this book, we turned out the lights to see if it would glow. The children really enjoyed making sound effects to go with the different kinds of faces.

 

We did an activity using paper brown bags. Some children drew masks on the bags and acted out the different faces in the book.

 

 

 

The following are a few comments from the children about the book:

"I really liked it, it was my favourite in the entire universe", "My favourite is the bone face, and the scary face and the cat face", "I hope I can borrow it to take it home. I want to see it glow in my room."

 

3. The Ghost’s Dinner By Jacques Duquennoy

 

This was an interesting book to read with the children. They were excited about watching how the ghosts turned different colours as they ate different foods. It seemed that their favourite part was when the ghosts became invisible from the ‘secret ghost dessert recipe’.

 

With this book, some children chose to draw colourful ghosts on glossy paper using bright coloured markers.

 



 

These are the comments that go with each picture drawn (clock wise): "This is the ghost that ate grapes and chocolate", "This ghost ate pink chocolate chips like the cheese ghost and colourful icecream", "My ghost ate pink and red and blue and brown and black and purple food", "This ghost that I made ate oranges and strawberries and blue stuff".

 

4. Mommy’s Monster By Irene Trimble and Illustrated by Jogn Manders

 

This was a terrific book to read to the children. It helped with math concepts and rhyming words. The children enjoyed turning the pages to see if the mummy found her baby on the next page, and the next page etc..

 

Some of the discussion was around the different Halloween characters in the book. For each page, the children helped to pick out the two rhyming words.

 

This is what they had to say about the book:

"I like the with and her baby", "I thought the mummy was never going to find her baby", "The mummy must have been sad when her baby was lost", "I like the rhyming words".

 

We also had a discussion about safety and staying close to your parent and guardians during Halloween and all the time.