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Sipping Spiders Through A Straw: Campfire Songs For Monsters
A delightfully chilling musical romp through the gross and gory world of campfire songs!
In this howlishly fun collection of campfire songs, little monsters everywhere will love singing along to their favorite campfire tunes which have been altered for optimal gross-out effect by the ghoulish Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by the Master of Creep, Gris Grimly.
Disgusting highlights include "If You're Scary and You Know It," "99 Bottles of Blood on the Wall," and the classic in the making, "Do Your Guts Hang Low?" Gather your creepy, crawly friends and get ready to slither and slink and howl and stink!
In this howlishly fun collection of campfire songs, little monsters everywhere will love singing along to their favorite campfire tunes which have been altered for optimal gross-out effect by the ghoulish Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by the Master of Creep, Gris Grimly.
Disgusting highlights include "If You're Scary and You Know It," "99 Bottles of Blood on the Wall," and the classic in the making, "Do Your Guts Hang Low?" Gather your creepy, crawly friends and get ready to slither and slink and howl and stink!
40 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
3 people are currently reading
336 people want to read
About the author
Kelly DiPucchio
61 books263 followersKelly is the award-winning author of several children’s books, thousands of To-Do lists, and a few recipe cards. Two of her books, Grace For President and The Sandwich Swap, were New York Times bestsellers.
Like most kids who grew up in the 1970’s, Kelly had a pet goat and bought all her clothes from the Sears catalog. Like most teenagers who grew up in the 1980’s, Kelly had really big glasses and feathered hair.
Today, Kelly lives with her husband and three children in southeastern Michigan, where she enjoys writing just about everything except her own bio.
Like most kids who grew up in the 1970’s, Kelly had a pet goat and bought all her clothes from the Sears catalog. Like most teenagers who grew up in the 1980’s, Kelly had really big glasses and feathered hair.
Today, Kelly lives with her husband and three children in southeastern Michigan, where she enjoys writing just about everything except her own bio.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
August 12, 2018
Oh, give me a home
where the Boogie Men roam.
where the ghosts and the green goblins play.
Where there aren't any phones,
only grunts, shrieks, and moans
and the flies are all welcome to stay.
Home, home of the strange,
where the feared and the freaks come to play.
Where the stench in the air,
comes from goon underwear
and the kids are all pasty and gray.
Make your next weenie-roast a bit more memorable by switching out the lyrics to the old campfire standards. Kids love anything spooky, weird, and just plain gross, so these songs should be quite popular. And if the ditties themselves are not enticement enough, Gris Grimly's haunting artwork provides the perfect accompaniment.
Do your guts hang low?
Do they wobble to and fro?
Can you tie them in a knot?
Can you feed them to a crow?
Creep out your relations and keep more marshmallows for yourself!
If you're scary and you know it, clap your paws.
where the Boogie Men roam.
where the ghosts and the green goblins play.
Where there aren't any phones,
only grunts, shrieks, and moans
and the flies are all welcome to stay.
Home, home of the strange,
where the feared and the freaks come to play.
Where the stench in the air,
comes from goon underwear
and the kids are all pasty and gray.
Make your next weenie-roast a bit more memorable by switching out the lyrics to the old campfire standards. Kids love anything spooky, weird, and just plain gross, so these songs should be quite popular. And if the ditties themselves are not enticement enough, Gris Grimly's haunting artwork provides the perfect accompaniment.
Do your guts hang low?
Do they wobble to and fro?
Can you tie them in a knot?
Can you feed them to a crow?
Creep out your relations and keep more marshmallows for yourself!
If you're scary and you know it, clap your paws.
September 7, 2018
A real disappointment. This Sipping Spiders Through A Straw: Campfire Songs For Monsters contains eighteen parody songs for pre-teens in the key of monster, yet is curiously unsatisfying. The songs in this 2008 offering are based on tunes both well-known ("Zombie Midge Is Falling Down"; "For He's a Stinky Old Fellow") and not so well known ("Slither and Slink" to the tune of "Skinnamarink," which I think no modern kids would recognize from the old Lois and Bram Elephant show -- their MOMS, maybe).
It's a pretty book, with Shel Silverstein-ish scary drawings, but at nearly a foot square (27 cm) with a dust jacket, it seems fantastically unsuited to real camps and campfires. It reminds me of those sadly pristine "S'mores" kits meant for the microwave, which serve only to remind us how far we are from the real world of campfires, snipe hunts and bug juice.
If you're after a pretty art book supposedly aimed at kids, this would be an acceptable choice.
It's a pretty book, with Shel Silverstein-ish scary drawings, but at nearly a foot square (27 cm) with a dust jacket, it seems fantastically unsuited to real camps and campfires. It reminds me of those sadly pristine "S'mores" kits meant for the microwave, which serve only to remind us how far we are from the real world of campfires, snipe hunts and bug juice.
If you're after a pretty art book supposedly aimed at kids, this would be an acceptable choice.
October 8, 2008
Nine’s a funny age. You’re all about joining the older kids, reading their chapter books, and playing their games. So there’s that. On the other hand, you still have a real appreciation for truly kid-like things. You want to simultaneously grow up and remain a child. You might visit a library one day and request a book of “scary stories” only to find that Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a bit much for you. With that in mind, people are going to pick up Kelly DiPucchio’s Sipping Spiders Through a Straw: Campfire Songs for Monsters and wonder who the intended audience is. The songs, or mock-songs, are fun but the pictures walk the line between the funny and the truly disgusting, sometimes falling all the way one way or the other. I tell you now that this is a picture book for the kids who are on the cusp of denying they like books with 32 pages or less and are still comfortable getting a picture book that mixes humor with pictures that wrap the funny into the scary into the anarchic into the cool.
Basically you take your basic campfire songs. Your “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad”s and your “Do Your Ears Hang Low”s, and you notice that very few of these songs are monster-appropriate. That’s where Kelly DiPucchio and Gris Grimly come in. Rewriting the whole campfire genre, this gruesome twosome punches up the old classics with monster-friendly pictures alongside. Eighteen of the grizzly tunes are presented here with dark companion illustrations by the master of introductory Goth. They may be grossed out. They may be disgusted. One thing you readers will not be is bored.
It makes for ideal reading aloud, I can tell you. The same kids that sing that old campfire song “I’m Looking Over My Dead Dog Rover” (sung to the tune of “I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover”) are going to be the ones that cackle gleefully over DiPucchio’s selections and Grimly’s naughty pics. Full Confession: I was one of those Girl Scouts that loved a grody or dark rhyme to sing. Any child that knows all the words to “Miss Susie Had a Baby” or other naughty schoolyard chants of the same will want to bulk up their repertoire with DiPucchio’s wild song selections. Teachers and librarians won’t have any difficulty gaining the undivided attention of their students either if they partake of a little “Zombie Midge” (sung to the tune of “London Bridge”) or “Creepy, Creepy Little Jar” (“Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”). And admit it. You thought the song was “My Body Lies Over the Ocean” anyway, didntcha?
I appreciated that the songs make mockeries of the usual suspects (“99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall”, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”) but also added in a couple unexpected treats. I’ve never seen an author rewrite the words to “Skinnamarink” before, but it certainly fits here with its cheery, “Slither and slink and stink and wink / Slither and stinky-doooo- / We . . . scare . . . you!” DiPucchio’s been making children’s books long enough that you don’t have to worry about whether or not the lines and phrases will scan either. There’s nothing worse than holding up a book and attempting to read/sing it to a class only to find that while you may be struggling along well enough, the author has somehow forgotten how many syllables should ideally go in each line. Not a problem here. Not a problem at all.
The pairing of Gris Grimly with DiPucchio is a fascinating one because her books are normally paired with relatively light and colorful artists. People like LeUyen Pham or Richard Egielski. Grimly’s great, sure. I mean he just paired with Neil Gaiman to bring us the world’s darkest abecedarian delight The Dangerous Alphabet. So to see him alongside DiPucchio is fascinating. It's like adding a dollop of delicious all-natural arsenic to a cup of warm milk.
Grimly’s style when drawing for kids is a mix of the frightening and the ridiculous. While a Stephen Gammell might draw on the darkest corners of the human brain to scare the living daylights out of a child, Grimly usually includes some small detail that detracts from the overall horror. For example, in this book you may face with fear an army of frightening Boogie Men, all distorted jaws and pupilless eyes. But after a second or two it’s hard to ignore the fact that they are standing in front of you in their underwear. And come to think of it, these guys could stand to cut down on their carbs. A Boogie Man, for all his power, is somehow less threatening when there’s a beer belly to contend with. Making use of his usual watercolors, Grimly appears to be employing a little mixed media here as well. I’m not sure if that’s new for this illustrator or not, but certainly the doily that accompanies the jar of a pickled something-something is of this world.
You will find, o gentle viewers, that when a concerned parent comes up to you about this book it will not be because of the text. Certainly the words will say “Do Your Guts Hang Low” and the artist would have had to have been a timid timmy indeed to avoid drawing intestines, but the blame is still gonna rest with the pics of splayed internal organs. And there will be complaints somewhere. Don’t let it bother you. Heck, people will complain about the dead elephant in The Story of Babar if you let them. Just ride it out, read them an amusing poem, and if they’re still not convinced hand them a Mary Engelbreit title to keep the peace.
The obvious pairing of this book is with similarly rhyming monster-laden picture books. Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich and its companion piece Frankenstein Takes the Cake are fond of original poems (though Rex is happy to rewrite “It’s a Small World” or a little Edgar Allen Poe if the mood hits) and use a broader variety of different art styles than what you’ll find here. Both, however, offer ghoulies and ghosties for the child masses, and if a kid is howling for more Frankenstein then this is the best possible companion piece for that particular tot. Grosser and darker than a lot of the usual picture book fare, it’s bound to have its fans and detractors by turns. For that special kid, however, this is gonna be beloved (to say nothing of that special teacher/librarian too).
Ages 9 and up
Basically you take your basic campfire songs. Your “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad”s and your “Do Your Ears Hang Low”s, and you notice that very few of these songs are monster-appropriate. That’s where Kelly DiPucchio and Gris Grimly come in. Rewriting the whole campfire genre, this gruesome twosome punches up the old classics with monster-friendly pictures alongside. Eighteen of the grizzly tunes are presented here with dark companion illustrations by the master of introductory Goth. They may be grossed out. They may be disgusted. One thing you readers will not be is bored.
It makes for ideal reading aloud, I can tell you. The same kids that sing that old campfire song “I’m Looking Over My Dead Dog Rover” (sung to the tune of “I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover”) are going to be the ones that cackle gleefully over DiPucchio’s selections and Grimly’s naughty pics. Full Confession: I was one of those Girl Scouts that loved a grody or dark rhyme to sing. Any child that knows all the words to “Miss Susie Had a Baby” or other naughty schoolyard chants of the same will want to bulk up their repertoire with DiPucchio’s wild song selections. Teachers and librarians won’t have any difficulty gaining the undivided attention of their students either if they partake of a little “Zombie Midge” (sung to the tune of “London Bridge”) or “Creepy, Creepy Little Jar” (“Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”). And admit it. You thought the song was “My Body Lies Over the Ocean” anyway, didntcha?
I appreciated that the songs make mockeries of the usual suspects (“99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall”, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”) but also added in a couple unexpected treats. I’ve never seen an author rewrite the words to “Skinnamarink” before, but it certainly fits here with its cheery, “Slither and slink and stink and wink / Slither and stinky-doooo- / We . . . scare . . . you!” DiPucchio’s been making children’s books long enough that you don’t have to worry about whether or not the lines and phrases will scan either. There’s nothing worse than holding up a book and attempting to read/sing it to a class only to find that while you may be struggling along well enough, the author has somehow forgotten how many syllables should ideally go in each line. Not a problem here. Not a problem at all.
The pairing of Gris Grimly with DiPucchio is a fascinating one because her books are normally paired with relatively light and colorful artists. People like LeUyen Pham or Richard Egielski. Grimly’s great, sure. I mean he just paired with Neil Gaiman to bring us the world’s darkest abecedarian delight The Dangerous Alphabet. So to see him alongside DiPucchio is fascinating. It's like adding a dollop of delicious all-natural arsenic to a cup of warm milk.
Grimly’s style when drawing for kids is a mix of the frightening and the ridiculous. While a Stephen Gammell might draw on the darkest corners of the human brain to scare the living daylights out of a child, Grimly usually includes some small detail that detracts from the overall horror. For example, in this book you may face with fear an army of frightening Boogie Men, all distorted jaws and pupilless eyes. But after a second or two it’s hard to ignore the fact that they are standing in front of you in their underwear. And come to think of it, these guys could stand to cut down on their carbs. A Boogie Man, for all his power, is somehow less threatening when there’s a beer belly to contend with. Making use of his usual watercolors, Grimly appears to be employing a little mixed media here as well. I’m not sure if that’s new for this illustrator or not, but certainly the doily that accompanies the jar of a pickled something-something is of this world.
You will find, o gentle viewers, that when a concerned parent comes up to you about this book it will not be because of the text. Certainly the words will say “Do Your Guts Hang Low” and the artist would have had to have been a timid timmy indeed to avoid drawing intestines, but the blame is still gonna rest with the pics of splayed internal organs. And there will be complaints somewhere. Don’t let it bother you. Heck, people will complain about the dead elephant in The Story of Babar if you let them. Just ride it out, read them an amusing poem, and if they’re still not convinced hand them a Mary Engelbreit title to keep the peace.
The obvious pairing of this book is with similarly rhyming monster-laden picture books. Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich and its companion piece Frankenstein Takes the Cake are fond of original poems (though Rex is happy to rewrite “It’s a Small World” or a little Edgar Allen Poe if the mood hits) and use a broader variety of different art styles than what you’ll find here. Both, however, offer ghoulies and ghosties for the child masses, and if a kid is howling for more Frankenstein then this is the best possible companion piece for that particular tot. Grosser and darker than a lot of the usual picture book fare, it’s bound to have its fans and detractors by turns. For that special kid, however, this is gonna be beloved (to say nothing of that special teacher/librarian too).
Ages 9 and up
November 15, 2008
I used this book during Halloween storytime. These reworkings of old songs are fantastically funny and creepy.
July 22, 2018
The suggested age range for this book is 8-12 years old, which I honestly think means that our society has gotten a bit squeamish and soft. Sure, it's creepy, gross, scary, and occasionally violent—but it's also silly, smart, and sassy dark humor! But this is definitely a polarizing book. My wife and my son Luke hate it. But for me and my son Harry it's a not-so-guilty pleasure—best served under a blanket with a flashlight.
Kelly DiPucchio takes well-known American campfire songs and cleverly rewrites them to be about monsters. Gris Grimly pulls absolutely no punches with some truly gruesome accompanying illustrations. I must admit it violates my usually inviolable rule about teaching the original before the clever remake. We'll see how that shakes out when Harry insists to someone that it's NOT "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" it's "99 Bottles of Blood on the Wall"...
Harry's favorite songs are "I've Been Running Over Road Toads" (sung to "I've Been Working on the Railroad"), "Slither & Stink" (sung to "Skidamarink"), and the titular "Sipping Spiders Through A Straw" (sung to "Sipping Cider Through a Straw"). I get a personal kick out of "Zombie Midge" (sung to "London Bridge is Falling Down").
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I review books for children from the perspective of a parent of kids with autism. The review above is part of a longer post on books about singalong books: https://www.lineupthebooks.com/40-sin...
Kelly DiPucchio takes well-known American campfire songs and cleverly rewrites them to be about monsters. Gris Grimly pulls absolutely no punches with some truly gruesome accompanying illustrations. I must admit it violates my usually inviolable rule about teaching the original before the clever remake. We'll see how that shakes out when Harry insists to someone that it's NOT "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" it's "99 Bottles of Blood on the Wall"...
Harry's favorite songs are "I've Been Running Over Road Toads" (sung to "I've Been Working on the Railroad"), "Slither & Stink" (sung to "Skidamarink"), and the titular "Sipping Spiders Through A Straw" (sung to "Sipping Cider Through a Straw"). I get a personal kick out of "Zombie Midge" (sung to "London Bridge is Falling Down").
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I review books for children from the perspective of a parent of kids with autism. The review above is part of a longer post on books about singalong books: https://www.lineupthebooks.com/40-sin...
December 7, 2020
This was a lot of fun. Most of the song worked. They followed the patrons from the original songs with little tripping over the tongue that can normally happen with parodies. The illustrations are Gris Grimly and fit perfectly. My favorite illustration is from I’ve been running over road toads, but my fav song is 99 bottles of blood.
#WinterGames2020 #TeamReadNosedReindeer +16
#WinterGames2020 #TeamReadNosedReindeer +16
October 7, 2017
I totally sang the songs as I read this book.
Man, Gris Grimly's illustrations are boss in this book! Perfect!!
Man, Gris Grimly's illustrations are boss in this book! Perfect!!
January 29, 2018
Both hilarious AND the perfect amount of spookiness for kids.
How does she do it? =) Love that Kelly DiPucchio!
How does she do it? =) Love that Kelly DiPucchio!
May 9, 2018
great for little monsters 😉
October 15, 2018
I loved these retellings of songs! Very good time for Halloween!! All I wish is that there were more of them.
April 4, 2022
Exactly my brand.
October 3, 2022
The art is what is great. Songs are... whatevs...
November 5, 2011
Sipping Spiders Through A Straw: Campfire Songs For Monsters by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Gris Grimly is a fun collection of monster campfire songs creepily illustrated.
18 campfire songs are altered into Monster campfire songs sung to the original tune. "Row, Row, Row your Boat" becomes "Blow Blow Blow Your Nose". "Home on the Range" is transformed into "Home of the Strange".
Title highlights include: "If You're Scary and You Know It", "99 Bottles of Blood on the Wall", "Do Your Guts Hang Low?", "Zombie Midge", "Take Me Out to the Graveyard", "My Delicious Frankenstein", "I've been Running Over Road Toads", "Little Big Foot's Boo Boo", and "Slither and Stink".
Kelly DiPucchio alters campfire classics into more disgusting and gross monster songs that lots of kids well enjoy. A sample verse I enjoyed: "Home, home of the strange, where the feared and the freaks come to play. Where the stench in the air, comes from goon underwear and the kids are all pasty and gray."
Adding to the creepiness are the excellent illustrations done in watercolor and mixed media by Gris Grimly. Among my favorite images are those accompanying My Delicious Frankenstein, Zombie Midge, Do Your Guts Hang Low, I've Been Running Over Road Toads, Little Big Foot's Boo-Boo, and Slither and Stink.
This will work best if children are familiar with the tune of the original song, but the lyrics are fun even if you're not sure of a tune or two. A good choice for older storytimes, a Halloween party, camp or slumber party. While you might get a random parent complaint, most readers and listeners will love this.
For ages 9 and up, monsters, campfire songs, slightly gross and disgusting, humor, and fans of Kelly DiPucchio and Gris Grimly.
18 campfire songs are altered into Monster campfire songs sung to the original tune. "Row, Row, Row your Boat" becomes "Blow Blow Blow Your Nose". "Home on the Range" is transformed into "Home of the Strange".
Title highlights include: "If You're Scary and You Know It", "99 Bottles of Blood on the Wall", "Do Your Guts Hang Low?", "Zombie Midge", "Take Me Out to the Graveyard", "My Delicious Frankenstein", "I've been Running Over Road Toads", "Little Big Foot's Boo Boo", and "Slither and Stink".
Kelly DiPucchio alters campfire classics into more disgusting and gross monster songs that lots of kids well enjoy. A sample verse I enjoyed: "Home, home of the strange, where the feared and the freaks come to play. Where the stench in the air, comes from goon underwear and the kids are all pasty and gray."
Adding to the creepiness are the excellent illustrations done in watercolor and mixed media by Gris Grimly. Among my favorite images are those accompanying My Delicious Frankenstein, Zombie Midge, Do Your Guts Hang Low, I've Been Running Over Road Toads, Little Big Foot's Boo-Boo, and Slither and Stink.
This will work best if children are familiar with the tune of the original song, but the lyrics are fun even if you're not sure of a tune or two. A good choice for older storytimes, a Halloween party, camp or slumber party. While you might get a random parent complaint, most readers and listeners will love this.
For ages 9 and up, monsters, campfire songs, slightly gross and disgusting, humor, and fans of Kelly DiPucchio and Gris Grimly.
October 8, 2008
I must admit that when I picked up this clever book, all I could hear in my mind was the 1980 Squeeze song "Pulling Mussels From the Shell." That would be one messed-up book: 80's pop songs reworded for Halloween. But sort of appropriate. Richard Butler of The Psychedelic Furs always looked kind of undead to begin with.
But the book. It's cute! Kids who love monsters will love it! Kids who love messing with song lyrics (and what kid doesn't, I ask you? Can anyone think of "Kawasaki lets the good times roll" without also hearing the filthy version too?) will love it. Fans of grody illustration will love it, and that includes all those grown boys who read the really gross graphic novels.
Dads who cannot keep themselves from singing in the car (that's you, baby, and also that's John The Boss, who laughed out loud when he read this book) will be pre-empted by their children whenever they start in with "Skinnamarink" (which we already have our own filthy version of) or "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall". Ha ha ha ha! We're driving 2600 miles in the next 3 weeks! I'm a little hysterical already!
But the book. It's cute! Kids who love monsters will love it! Kids who love messing with song lyrics (and what kid doesn't, I ask you? Can anyone think of "Kawasaki lets the good times roll" without also hearing the filthy version too?) will love it. Fans of grody illustration will love it, and that includes all those grown boys who read the really gross graphic novels.
Dads who cannot keep themselves from singing in the car (that's you, baby, and also that's John The Boss, who laughed out loud when he read this book) will be pre-empted by their children whenever they start in with "Skinnamarink" (which we already have our own filthy version of) or "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall". Ha ha ha ha! We're driving 2600 miles in the next 3 weeks! I'm a little hysterical already!
January 30, 2009
This is a really unique and creepy collection of monster songs set to popular camp song tunes. The book has songs with varying levels of complexity and gore and would be a fun activity around Halloween or Dia de Los Muertos.
Some fun songs to sing wih younger students include, "If You're Scary and You Know It, Clap Your Paws," "Where, Oh Where Has My Little frog Gone?" and "Blow, Blow, Blow Your Nose!" Older students would appreciate the story that is told in "Harry Finnigan" about a teen werewolf, "Home of the Strange" where it talk about the Boogie Man's underwear, and "A-Camping We Will Go" about a monster camp-out.
Gris Grimly's illustrations, done in flesh-tone watercolors and mixed media, provide an appropriately macabre atmosphere. But, I could see them giving some young children nightmares.
Some fun songs to sing wih younger students include, "If You're Scary and You Know It, Clap Your Paws," "Where, Oh Where Has My Little frog Gone?" and "Blow, Blow, Blow Your Nose!" Older students would appreciate the story that is told in "Harry Finnigan" about a teen werewolf, "Home of the Strange" where it talk about the Boogie Man's underwear, and "A-Camping We Will Go" about a monster camp-out.
Gris Grimly's illustrations, done in flesh-tone watercolors and mixed media, provide an appropriately macabre atmosphere. But, I could see them giving some young children nightmares.
June 23, 2008
If you are going camping this summer or on a road trip, I highly recommend this book. On the other hand, if you plan on spending your entire summer inside on the couch watching TV, I still recommend Sipping Spiders Through Straws. Your family will enjoy nothing more than you belting out a few spine-chilling tunes during commercials.
Some of my favorites were Home of the Strange, 99 Bottles of Blood on the Wall, If You’re Scary and You Know it, Clap Your Paws, My Body Lies Over the Ocean and Take Me Out to the Grave Yard. I will admit there a couple of the 18 songs that I was not familiar with the tune but enjoyed the lyrics anyway. Gris Grimly’s illustrations were absolutely sinister through out the book. Over all I found the book eerily entertaining and frightfully fun.
Some of my favorites were Home of the Strange, 99 Bottles of Blood on the Wall, If You’re Scary and You Know it, Clap Your Paws, My Body Lies Over the Ocean and Take Me Out to the Grave Yard. I will admit there a couple of the 18 songs that I was not familiar with the tune but enjoyed the lyrics anyway. Gris Grimly’s illustrations were absolutely sinister through out the book. Over all I found the book eerily entertaining and frightfully fun.
August 3, 2012
This is a fun reading sing along. I know a lot of the tunes for children songs so I was technically singing to my kids instead of reading. Cannot say I am no Frank Sinatra when I sing but it was funny to change lyrics to songs, I basically do that on a day to day bases to begin with.
Gris Grimly is one of my new favorite illustrators. His Gothic Tim Burton drawings are eye candies for me.
Here are my favorites on the playlist.
Home of the Strange
Blow, Blow, Blow Your Nose
My Delicious Frankenstein
Zombie Midge
Do your Guts Hang Low?
Check this out it's definitely funny to sing these renditions if you know childrens music.
Gris Grimly is one of my new favorite illustrators. His Gothic Tim Burton drawings are eye candies for me.
Here are my favorites on the playlist.
Home of the Strange
Blow, Blow, Blow Your Nose
My Delicious Frankenstein
Zombie Midge
Do your Guts Hang Low?
Check this out it's definitely funny to sing these renditions if you know childrens music.
August 3, 2011
Oh how I LOVE this book! It makes me laugh. It makes me smile. It makes me want to invite monsters camping! Some of my all-time favorite camp songs are re-done so that they have their own special monster twist. And that can only be good things! I only wish that there were a music cd to go along with the book. Could you just see it as a wonderful monster melody cd? It would be better than ever! I only wish that all my friends could have been around when I first snorted and snickered through the first sight-reading singing of this book. That was a memorable experience... ;)
Read
April 29, 2016On a trip to the local bookstore, I happened to come across quite a few Gris Grimly books. I happen to be a huge fan of Gris's stories/Artwork, so I decided to check them out. I'd never seen this book before, but I've seen lots of books like it, and actually used to sing songs similar to this when I was in Elementary school. I thought this book was perfect for children who are fans of Halloween and/or creepy things. It kind of reminds me of Edward Gorey's books or some of Creature Feature's music. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a good creepy kids book.
November 23, 2016
Awards: none
Grades: K-2
Summary: Sipping Spiders Through A Straw: Campfire Songs For Monsters features a variety of new and classic campfire songs remade, all with gruesome, spooky, or gross subject matter. The illustrations support the gross factor of each song.
Review: This collection of songs would be so much fun with students simply because the songs are intended to be gross or spooky. Students know some of these songs in their original format, which will make the lyric changes even more fun.
Uses:
1. Mentor text for song writing
2. Halloween activity
3. Rhyming practice
Grades: K-2
Summary: Sipping Spiders Through A Straw: Campfire Songs For Monsters features a variety of new and classic campfire songs remade, all with gruesome, spooky, or gross subject matter. The illustrations support the gross factor of each song.
Review: This collection of songs would be so much fun with students simply because the songs are intended to be gross or spooky. Students know some of these songs in their original format, which will make the lyric changes even more fun.
Uses:
1. Mentor text for song writing
2. Halloween activity
3. Rhyming practice
August 25, 2008
Maybe I just don't have the right temperament for this stuff. I wanted dark and witty, and mostly I just got...eh, not that. While I knew every song DiPucchio played off of (which is an absolute must for this type of book), her versions lacked the wit I was hoping for. Grimly's illustrations were appropriately creepy (occasionally bordering on too disgusting from time to time), but overall, this just didn't meet my expectations.
February 20, 2012
Got this from the library for my 6 year-old. The art is AWESOME. I love this guy. Very Nightmare Before Christmas-ish. It's basically a bunch of classic songs re-written with horror lyrics "Home, home of the strange, where the feared and the freaks come to play" type stuff (to the tune of Home on the Range). Some are funny some are just okay but that's okay because the art totally rocks!!!
August 23, 2013
Sing the take-off of Oh, My Darling Clementine with an auditorium of elementary school kids* and just TRY to dislike this book. The illustrations are creepy cool in the Nightmare before Christmas, Neil Gaiman kind of way.
Major hit with elementary kids in summer reading school visits 2012.
*don't forget to extend and ham up the line which starts "Oh my frosted..."
Major hit with elementary kids in summer reading school visits 2012.
*don't forget to extend and ham up the line which starts "Oh my frosted..."
Read
September 8, 2016Someday I will get these reinvented song lyrics out of my head...
Songs like, "Where Oh Where Has My Little Frog Gone?" "I've Been Running Over Road Toads," and the absolute grossest:
Blow, blow, blow your nose,
Sick and stuffy ghost.
Pick it,
And Poke it,
And pull it out,
and spread it on your toast.
eww.
Songs like, "Where Oh Where Has My Little Frog Gone?" "I've Been Running Over Road Toads," and the absolute grossest:
Blow, blow, blow your nose,
Sick and stuffy ghost.
Pick it,
And Poke it,
And pull it out,
and spread it on your toast.
eww.
August 18, 2008
Author Kelly DiPucchio has cleverly reworded familiar campfire songs to reflect an "Addams Family"-like world of ghosts, ghouls, monsters, and witches. Gris Grimly's illustrations are a perfect accompaniment to these poems. Kids who enjoy creepy things will love this book.
September 13, 2008
campfire songs for monsters! some are quite clever, others just okay. may be fun for a do-not-call-it-halloween program if lyrics were shared for group sing. some are too gross for sharing with public. pictures are softly gory.
August 6, 2009
Although not one of my personal favorites, it is an excellent book. For all those kids out there that love creepy, crawly, gross books, this is perfect. It is extremely creative to read and the pictures are engaging. I'm lending this to the neighbor boy. He'll love it.
October 12, 2010
Sing "Home of the Strange" to the tune of "Home on the Range," "Blow Blow Blow Your Nose" to the tune of "Row Row Row Your Boat," and 99 Bottles of Blood on the Wall...well, you get the idea. Big fun and wonderfully creepy illustrations by Gris Grimly. All ages.
November 21, 2012
I felt like there was a real lack of creativity. I wanted more. I did not find any of the parodies to be overwhelmingly clever, nor did I find a single one funny. The illustrations are very nice though, and it coul be fun to use one or two of these during a storytime or something.
January 17, 2016
Cute horror songs for kids :) I sang them to myself in my head while I read. I enjoyed the illustrations even more - creepy to a weird degree, sort of like the Scary Stories stuff...I'll be looking for more stuff by that illustrator.
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