Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Review: Halloween Titles from Harper Collins

Quick break from reviewing Cybils nominations to take a look at some new Halloween titles! While my biggest problem at Halloween is narrowing down my read-alouds, it's always good to have something fresh in the mix.

9780062366405
$17.99

What do you do before you go to bed at night?
Bigfoot hugs his wooby extra tight, while aliens have pillow fights.
Nessie gets a drink, then swims down deep.
But in the end, everybody needs to sleep . . . even monsters!

The little cutie on the front cover is being chased by a very determined, and much harrier Daddy on the back cover. I like the illustration details like the little bits of torn wallpaper and the claw marks. Looks like my house! The alien children are adorable in their fuzzy one-piece sleepers, and the expressions on the dragon parents' faces as Logan the baby dragon chatters away is just perfect! The kitten playing with Frankenstein's big toe...and I think I once had the same slippers as Yeti!

Back-cover-Daddy is reading to front-cover-cutie in rhyming lines of varying length, each ending with "Even ___ needs to sleep." Perfect for our monster-themed story time next week, when I need to engage my audience!

One of my favorite monster read-alouds is "Bunnies", written and illustrated by this guy:

9780062408716
$17.99

The rhythm is a bit tricky on this one, so you'll want to practice it a bit before a read-aloud. It would be even better read one-on one, but I wouldn't suggest it for bedtime - too funny! Expect your little one to pick up on a favorite line or to. You'll be hearing for the next few weeks that he loves you "as much as blood-sucking ducks".

9780062198709
$6.99

Remember when I said something about a series driven more by marketing than by anything else? Yeah. Just stop. Please.

9780062264497
$16.99

With the right spell Grimelda knows she can make her cat Wizzlewarts spooktacular in seconds. But when her spell book goes missing in her untidy room, will Grimelda find another spooktacular pet to win the prize, or will her magic make an even larger mess?

We met cutie pie Grimelda in The Very Messy Witch. As you can see from the description, her home is not any neater, but her illustrations and rhymes are great! As adults will predict, Wizzlewarts turns out to be just the right pet in the end, but with a few fun twists along the way. Another fun read-aloud, especially paired with the earlier title!

Three out of four isn't bad! What is your favorite Halloween read-aloud?

***with apologies to illustrators Diana Murray and Chris van Dusen because I ran out of characters and couldn't tag everyone. Dang Blogger.




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