Scared Silly: A Halloween Book for the Brave

by Marc Brown

An illustrated collection of spooky stories, poems, and riddles including a humorous array of ghosts, monsters, ghouls, and witches.

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Halloween, Fiction, Holiday, Childrens

61 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Marc Tolon Brown is perhaps best known for his series of children's books about Arthur the aardvark, which was turned into an animated television show on PBS. Brown is a three-time Emmy Award winner, for his role on the television show inspired by his books.

He lives on Martha's Vineyard and in New York City with his wife, Laurie Krasny Brown. He has three children, sons Tolon and Tucker, and daughter Eliza. The names of his two sons have been hidden in all of the Arthur books except for one: Arthur's Tooth.

Reviews

[IvyInThePages · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.7 leaves out of 5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 2.75/5
Story: 3/5
Writing: 5/5
Genre: Children
Type: Book
Worth?: Eh

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is mostly a cute collection of little poems about witches, monsters, etc. However...

MAJOR WARNING TO ANYONE READING THIS BOOK TO YOUNG CHILDREN:
Stuck in the middle of this otherwise innocuous book is a story called "I'm Coming Up the Stairs" by Maria Leach which creeped me out...and my husband. Here's an even creepier audio version of it (because I didn't read it nearly this creepily).

We've morphed the story into a new game, but still...I wouldn't have read that one if I'd actually previewed the book.

[Miya Gaub · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scared Silly! is a spooky book filled with poems about fears people commonly face as children. Many of the poems are told in a lighthearted manner and include pictures of silly looking monsters children might imagine. Each poem has a unique format that revolves around the photographs. Some long poems are limited to one page, while other shorter poems are given many pages to be explored. These poems are used to strike fear in children, but also to lighten the mood around topics that might be uncomfortable or scary to talk about. Inside the front cover, a list of ways to get over your fears is included. One factor of this book I would like to change is the pessimistic attitude portrayed around fear. I think children should feel like their feelings are understood and are relevant regardless of how silly adults might find them. Children often find comfort in adults who can sooth their fears, but this book almost encouraged the thought that children should get cover their fears because they are just silly.

[Lacy | literary_lacy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of stories/poems/jokes/etc, was definitely aimed towards older kids. Most of the poems were too advanced for my toddler, and she just didn’t enjoy many of the stories.

It actually took us several days to read this book. Some of the poems were cute, and some kind of missed the mark big time.

My daughter might enjoy this book as she ages, but it just wasn’t right for her, and I didn’t really enjoy it much either. It was more of a chore to get through than anything. The illustrations also, were just okay.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poems, riddles, jokes and stories about witches, skeletons, monsters and other Halloween happenings. Some titles include A Magic Chant, Withces’ Menu, Five Batty Bats, The Alphabet Monster, Monster Stew, One Hungry Monster, and I’m coming up the Stairs.

Other contributors include Judith Viorst, Jane Yolen, Jack Prelutsky, Myra Cohn Livingston, Odgen Nash

[Alexis Munk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was very cute! The illustrations weren't awful but they weren't my favorite. I really liked how it was a book about over-coming fears.

[Casey Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grade level: read aloud for K and then all elementary

I chose this book originally because I enjoy other Marc Brown books. This book didn't disappoint. Brown uses a creative idea of combining poetry with riddles and jokes. This seems to be a good book to present to children who are hesitant about the idea of poetry. This collection of poems is written all about Halloween and other "spooky" situations. The poems are written by a collection of various artists, but the illustrations done by Brown are what really bring the story to life. Parts of the poems are even hard to read at times because they are written over the collection of colors that Brown provides in his illustrations. Although they are said to be "scary" poems, they are mostly fun and could be presented to small children in a way that is funny rather than scary. This would be a good poetry book to use in the fall during Halloween, but it could really be used anytime as children connect and find joy in the ideas of slimy monsters and things of that nature.

I would use this collection as a read aloud during Halloween and they could be done as a group project or group discussions for the older elementary students.

Content Connections:
Language arts: creating their own scary or spooky poetry
Music: setting some of the poems to music or studying the actual musical pieces placed in the collection (example: page 21)

[KarenMLISt · Rating 4 out of 5]

M. Brown's Illustrations are a great foil for too-scarey Halloween images. Also some 1st graders noticed the similarities between M.Brown's Arthur characters and those in this book (good connection!) Choose carefully for K children as a few readings might still be too scarey just in tone alone. However, I read aloud the Magic Chant (to "be prepared for anything that makes you scared") to grades K-2 and all giggled and loved repeating it with me. I was also thankful that the ryhyming story "One Hungry Monster" by Susan Heyboer O'Keefe is included in this book and I could read it to my K's (since I lost my copy of that adorable book!)

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a picture book filled with poems, jokes, riddles and short stories. It is a great book to have because having a short funny joke when you and the kids are all stressed out can really help when you guys are having a long day. Kids will love the gross and silly stuff in this book. I would love to have this in my classroom. And poetry is so important to read to the kids.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful assortment of poems, short stories, jokes, and riddles from great authors such as Jack Prelutsky, Jane Yolen, Judith Viorst, compiled and illustrated by Marc Brown.

Great classroom source for all teachers.

[Meadow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book introduced my kid to Ogden Nash. She is a fan.

[Emerson School Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

read aloud K, 1st & 2nd grade Halloween poetry 10/2010
mixed bag - some was too scarey for kindergarten - choose carefully (they liked Countdown and Knock Knock jokes and Witches Four)

[Savannah Shields · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book that contains halloween based poems that are great for elementary school kids. Has every kind of halloween idea and theme imaginable put into amazing fun poems.

[Lenny Husen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the cover states, poems, riddles, jokes, stories about scary monsters, witches. Perfect book to read to kids around Halloween.

[Bvlmc Buchanan Verplanck Elementary School · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poems, jokes, riddles, songs and short stories punctuate this anthology of silly, scary, creepy works designed to make being scared fun. Many authors contributed works to this book.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of these poems are more silly and humorous than scary.