Children's Books discussion

October 2025: We are revisiting last year's October theme because I am just going to totally indulge in the Halloweeny picture books this year as my youngest still loves Halloween but his interest in picture books is dwindling and by next year he may not want to peruse the picture books with me. I hope the rest of you will have fun coming along with us on this Autumn and Halloween Scavenger Hunt. I again asked my son to help me come up with what we should hunt for and you may choose from the following or try to find them all :-) Feel welcome to post if you love a Halloweeny book even if it's not from the list, or pull from the 2024 scavenger hunt list, too. Just fun fun to see what we all come up with :-)

Jack o'Lantern
Spooky/Haunted Forest
Trick-or-Treaters
Hay Ride
Corn Maze
One or more of these scary creatures:
Vampire
Zombie
Headless Horseman
Mummy
Werewolf*

I look forward to seeing what we find. Please remember that we are looking for picture-books only and the scavenger hunt items need not be on the cover so long as they appear in the book somewhere. Please make note of which item it contains when you post your review of any given book. Happy Hunting! ;-)

*I just wanted to mention that we will do actual wolves next month. This is a member-suggested topic and I want to make sure your voices are heard. Even though wolves often feature in Halloween/spooky stories I specifically do NOT include them on this list because that is such an unfair portrayal of them. We do have werewolves on the list but I want to be clear this is not anything to do with actual wolves. Stay tuned to celebrate wolves next month :-)


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October 2024: My youngest is helping with this month's theme :-) I told him that I wanted to do a picture book scavenger hunt for October and asked if he could come up with the search list. He loves Halloween so we've got several books that lean Halloweeny, and you could certainly make them all Halloween-related if you like. Meanwhile, some of them could be non-Halloween, simply autumn-related or even non-fiction if you wish so long as it's picture book length/target audience. Pick and choose your favorites or try to find all eight!

Have fun searching :-)

2024's List:
Ghost
Witch
Monster
Haunted House
Black Cat
Pumpkin
Bat
Spider

HAUNTED HOUSE

Haunted Houses

Decent but not spectacular, and it would be nice if the the book could be a bit more international.

(view spoiler)[With her 2008 picture book Haunted Houses, Dinah Williams certainly gives a factually interesting introduction to eleven residences reputed to be haunted (nine in the United States, one in Canada and one in Jamaica). And I definitely do find it cheering that Williams points out that while in most cases, the described and experienced hauntings are more likely fictional or people believing something uncanny is happening simply because the supposedly haunted building has a reputation of being thus, there are also multiple cases where that answer is in fact a bit facile and not all that believable, where the question of ghosts taking over a house cannot just be declared as possible hysteria or for those individuals who actually are wanting to experience ghosts wishful thinking. For yes and as two examples, when in Haunted Houses Dinah Williams describes how Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands seemingly encountered the spirit of Abraham Lincoln at the White House, I do tend to believe this, as Queen Wilhelmina had a reputation for being a solid and no nonsense monarch, and well, I have personally been in the Deane House in Calgary, Alberta, and even prior to knowing that the house was considered to be haunted, there was definitely (at least for me) something that felt strange, something that felt uncanny.

Finally, although textually, Haunted Houses is solidly factual, includes appreciated bibliographies listing both books and a website, and is also just creepy enough for the intended age group, for older children from about the age of six to ten or so, in my opinion, teenaged and adult readers might well rather wish for Dinah Williams’ mode of narration to be slightly less mundanely informative and more focussing on the horrible, on the uncanniness and strangeness of the eleven haunted houses presented and described. But definitely, the main reason for my ranking for Haunted Houses being three stars and not yet four actually has nothing at all to do with Dinah Williams’ writing style but with the fact that I really do wish Haunted Houses were more international in scope (that Dinah Williams would also feature and describe uncanny and ghostly happenings from around the world and not just from North America). Because yes, this lack of universality does kind of render Haunted Houses as a trifle too America-centric for my tastes (and considering for example how many famous haunted castles and houses are supposed to exist in the British Isles alone, I am I guess more than a bit disappointed that Dinah Williams features NONE of them in Haunted Houses). (hide spoiler)]

HAUNTED HOUSE

The Mystery of Haunted Houses

(view spoiler)[So yes, if you are actually wanting to read a book in which the author absolutely and one hundred percent believes that houses reputed to be haunted are in fact ALL legitimately being visited by bona fide ghosts and unexplained psychic phenomena, then in my humble opinion, Chris Oxlade’s 2007 The Mystery of Haunted Houses might indeed be rather if not even massively frustrating and annoying. For to be perfectly honest, Chris Oxlade actually spends the vast majority of The Mystery of Haunted Houses both trying and in my humble opinion usually quite readily succeeding in explaining the many non ghost related, the multitude of natural and/or human-caused reasons why in particular unknown and strange sounds and lights can often happen and appear in houses and particularly in very old and very recently built abodes.

And while Chris Oxlade also demonstrates in The Mystery of Haunted Houses that there are as yet no hardcore science and logic based conclusions and explanations for ALL reputed cases of haunted domiciles (in other words, that with regard to supposedly haunted buildings etc. there is also much which still does remain rather unknown and speculation) and that he also give a few truly as yet absolutely unexplainable examples, such as the haunted Borley Rectory in the UK and how Abraham Lincoln’s spirit supposedly haunts the White House, for the most part The Mystery of Haunted Houses successfully points out and shows that many if not in fact most cases of places reputed to be haunted are in fact not haunted, are either experiencing naturally occurring scenarios or instances of people either imagining that a certain house etc. is haunted or engaging in a bit of deliberate trickery (something that I personally do actually much appreciate, but I can also understand how for believers, that for those individuals who truly and strongly consider hauntings, ghostly apparitions and such to be true, to represent reality, that yes, The Mystery of Haunted Houses is in all likelihood not only not mysterious enough but also not accepting enough of the concept of ghosts being potentially real).

Thus and finally, while my personal rating for Chris Oxlade’s text is definitely solidly four stars (both for Oxlade’s observations and analyses and also for his included bibliography), I do think that for readers who do in fact believe in ghosts being real (or want to consider this as the truth or the possible truth), The Mystery of Haunted Houses might indeed and well be a trifle too cynical and too unwilling to consider phantoms and spirits as possibly legitimate, as really potentially existing and actively doing their hauntings. (hide spoiler)]

Liked this, but for those who actually believe in haunted houses, maybe a bit too cynical in tone.

HAUNTED HOUSE/GHOST

The Ghost on the Hearth

(view spoiler)[A truly sad (and thought provoking) but also at the same time really sweetly tender ghost story is Susan Milord’s 2003 picture book The Ghost on the Hearth and a tale that also just might be true (as the personal family story of a haunting in 19th century Quebec was told to author Susan Milord by her grandmother who truly believed in its veracity, namely that poor unfortunate Emily really did haunt the farmhouse she was working after her sudden death from illness and all because of some silly and ridiculous absconded candles).

And yes, Susan Milord’s writing, her storytelling for The Ghost on the Hearth is both emotional and factual (with young readers or listeners also being clearly shown how in the 19th century, poor families often had to send their older children away for work and indeed that dying from fevers and such was sadly a common enough scenario and occurrence). But while Emily’s story (and even when she starts haunting the hearth of her employer after her demise) is not ever in any way frightening or creepy, personally, I would still recommend that parents pre-read The Ghost on the Hearth to make sure that in particular younger children are able to handle this. For while I was not in any way ever weirded out by The Ghost on the Hearth I did in fact kind of end up with tears in my eyes regarding poor Emily and that she was basically stealing candle stubs from her work since her family did not have enough money to purchase candles (and yes, Lydia Dabcovich’s accompanying artwork for The Ghost on the Hearth, while it does visually do a great job mirroring Susan Milord’s text, the pictures also do have the tendency to be very in your face realistic both with regard to reality and in particular pertaining to white and transparent ghost entity Emily). (hide spoiler)]

Lovely, sad, and also supposedly a story the author's ancestors believed to be true.

GHOST (and maybe a black cat)

Ghost Cat

(view spoiler)[Truth be told I have not really found Kevan Atteberry's artwork for his 2019 picture book Ghost Cat all that much to my personal aesthetic tastes. For while how Atteberry has drawn and visually rendered inanimate objects such as pianos, beds, armchairs and the like appears as mostly successful to and for my eyes, both the little boy main narrator and the ghost cat he seems to constantly see, they just do not look all that visually realistic and with in particular the little boy's head appearing as much too massive for his small body. However and the above having been said, the narrative accompanying the illustrations, Kevan Atteberry's printed words for Ghost Cat, they do indeed and certainly tell simply a lovely and poignant tale of how the loss of a cherished pet (and in this case, obviously a pet cat) does majorly change things and often makes one remember and even wish for the past, for how things used to be (and especially at night, if the pet in question used to share one's bed).

A sad but also always sweetly gentle little tale is Ghost Cat, and I also both love and appreciate how the reader is actually never quite sure whether there really is a ghost cat prowling around the house or whether the little boy is simply remembering the cat he has recently lost (realistic on many levels and a bit of a tear jerker of course, but indeed also with a totally optimistic and hopeful ending that totally and delightfully just seems to fit like the proverbial glove so to speak). And indeed, Ghost Cat is also and totally a story that even with my personal rather lacklustre visual reaction towards author/illustrator Kevan Atteberry's accompanying pictures, I do very much and highly recommend to anyone (especially to cat enthusiasts and most definitely to parents wanting a reassuring account about dealing with the loss of a pet that is both realistically painful and imaginative and yes, also ends on a totally smile inducing and positive note, even if tissues might also well be required for certain parts of Ghost Cat). (hide spoiler)]

Do not remember if the cat in questions might have been black, but I liked how there is always a question of whether the cat is really a ghost.

GHOST

Ghosts

(view spoiler)[So yes indeed, Kelli M. Brucken certainly does in her 2006 picture book Mysterious Encounters - Ghosts present and describe an extensive enough but in my humble opinion also a bit too USA centric amount of “non fiction” information on encountered and experienced ghosts (both human and a few animal spirits) and also of course (and naturally) regarding the question whether ghosts actually exist or do not exist (with happily and appreciatively, no answer to this being given by the author).

However, while with regard to Brucken’s featured contents, Mysterious Encounters - Ghosts should therefore and in fact be engaging, enlightening and as such also enjoyable for interested readers, sorry, but writing style and narration wise, Kelli M. Brucken’s featured text for Mysterious Encounters - Ghosts, it does truly and in my humble opinion read majorly and utterly annoyingly and unengagingly, it reads really and massively tediously, not only never once capturing any type of and sense for eeriness or uncanniness whatsoever (and which for and to me really should be an absolute must for ghost stories, including when describing haunted encounters reputed to be true), but yes, even how the tales are presented in their bare bones form just seems awkward and dragging, and definitely not at all a reading pleasure (with me truly just wanting the ghost stories being described in Mysterious Encounters - Ghosts to be over and done with, not feeling all that enlightened by Kelli M. Brucken’s writing and definitely totally, absolutely being massively bored and frustrated, as aside from not really considering the featured and depicted ghost stories at all pleasurable, I also have found many of the accompanying visuals aesthetically ugly and in all ways really artistically uninspired and hugely stagnant).

And the only reason I am in fact not considering but one star for Mysterious Encounters - Ghosts is that I do like that Kelli M. Brucken has included a detailed bibliography listing both book and online sources (but that no, this also is in no way enough for me to consider more than two stars for Mysterious Encounters - Ghosts, as I really have not at all found Kelli M. Brucken’s text stylistically readable, I have truly found the author’s printed words tedious, not engaging and not even remotely creepy or ghostly). (hide spoiler)]

Did not like the writing style, was surprisingly bored with this rather short book about ghosts.

GHOST

Ghosts

(view spoiler)[Yes, I certainly do appreciate that author John Guy neither believes nor disbelieves in the the reality ghosts and that he thus shows in his picture book Ghosts - The Unexplained precisely that scientists have not been able to prove or to disprove that ghosts, that hauntings, that mysterious monsters and the like exist, that they truly and really occur, and that although there have over the centuries been many cases of hoaxes, of people pretending to be ghosts or presenting artificially created “proof” of ghosts (such as photographic evidence of ghosts using double exposure), there have also and equally been many ghost scenarios that really cannot be all that easily explained away, that therefore the existence of ghosts might be true, but might also of course not be true.

Thus if you have picked up Ghosts - The Unexplained because you hope that John Guy will be textually presenting and showing absolute and unassailable evidence that ghosts, haunted houses, uncanny and creepy animal spirits etc. do actually and in fact really and truly exist, then no, you most likely will not be finding Ghosts - The Unexplained all that much to your reading desires and wants. For (and in my opinion also happily and fortunately), albeit John Guy certainly features in Ghosts- The Unexplained many types of potential spiritual manifestations (including religious based ghosts, phantom armies and ships, poltergeists, time warps and of course also literary and cinematic spiritual entities), he never once claims that this must all be real (he simply presents with Ghosts: The Unexplained interesting nuggets of knowledge and asks his readers to at least consider that ghost sightings, that hauntings might be potentially real, and that yes, academic and solidly intellectual inclined I most definitely do appreciate, celebrate and majorly respect John Guy’s sense of verbal balance).

And thus, three solid stars for Ghosts -The Unexplained, for a nicely multi faceted account that provides multiple examples of ghosts but without the author demanding belief in ghosts (but also with John Guy also not demanding the opposite). But yes, for me to consider four stars for Ghosts - The Unexplained, John Guy would need to provide a considerably more extensive bibliography and more aesthetically pleasant accompanying visuals. (hide spoiler)]

Like how the author is neither a believer nor a disbeliever in ghosts.

GHOST

The Flying Dutchman

(view spoiler)[Although Jane H. Gould's storytelling and penmanship for her 2014 junior graphic novel The Flying Dutchman is definitely more than a trifle stiff, is a bit dragging regarding reading interest retention and could in my opinion also benefit from including more textual detail, as well as increased emotional depth and nuance regarding the specifics of the legend of The Flying Dutchman (and that I also really wish Richard Wagner's opera were not just alluded to anonymously in The Flying Dutchman but mentioned with both the title and even more so with the composer's full name, albeit yes, I do appreciate the opera even being pointed out and that The Flying Dutchman also includes websites for supplemental research and a list of similar themed ghost ship stories to consider), I do have to admit that the combination of text and images work pretty well, pretty decently together.

But considering that The Flying Dutchman is obviously meant for young and recently independent readers, the simplicity of Gould's presented text actually makes more than a bit of common sense (being a frame narrative of a grandfather telling his grandson all about The Flying Dutchman, of its specific history, of the legends and superstitions surrounding The Flying Dutchman and of Captain Hendrick Vanderdecken in the 1600s being eternally cursed to roam the oceans on and with his ship for defying a storm and probably having made a deal with the Devil, of scientific explanations regarding ghost ships etc.).

And indeed, the accompanying traditional comic book illustrations for The Flying Dutchman, they are not only aesthetically appealing, are realistic, nicely colourful, atmospheric but also expand on Jane H. Gould's words, often visually provide details and information that is missing from the text itself, and with The Flying Dutchman therefore basically being a more than decent introduction to the Flying Dutchman of legend, an engaging graphic novel nicely suitable for readers from about the ages of six to ten (but not really all that much for older readers, as yes, only my inner child is truly enjoying The Flying Dutchman, that my older adult reading self is left somewhat bored and frustrated and with my final star rating for The Flying Dutchman thus not being more than three stars, but still warmly enough recommended for the intended audience, for the above mentioned six to ten year olds). (hide spoiler)]

A bit stiff narration wise, but a decent graphic novel with lots of information and background.

BLACK CAT



How the Devil Got His Cat

(view spoiler)[According to Mary Alice Downie's informative and much appreciated author's note, How the Devil got his Cat is a traditional folktale in many cultures, and I am finding this French Canadian retelling rather intersting and enjoyable, with nicely executed silhouette illustrations (so yes, the cat is of course black).

That all being said, however, and the above notwithstanding, there definitely are aspects of the narrative, of its themes and contents, I consider more than a bit troubling and problematic. I do appreciate that the Mother Superior of the abbey not only gets the Devil to build a bridge to her abbey, but later outsmarts the same (saving her soul). However, I do not at all like and actually cannot accept the fact that the Mother Superior sacrifices her pet cat to the Devil, her supposedly treasured animal companion. Surely, she could have thought of something else to save her soul, as this not only is cruel and crass, it also promotes and plays up to the concept, so common in culture and folklore, that cats are somehow uncanny and devilish. Thus, while I generally did and continue to much appreciate How the Devil got his Cat as an interesting piece of folklore, I do not and cannot love it in any way as a story in and of itself (and for sensitive readers, Jillian Hulme Gilliland's silhouette illustrations of the Devil are really quite massively and nastily creepy, especially his reaching hands with their long, pointed, skeleton-like fingernails). (hide spoiler)]

Do not like aspects of the story (especially how the cat is given to the Devil by the Mother Superior to save her own soul) although Downie presents a common piece European/French folklore.

BLACK CAT



They All Saw A Cat

(view spoiler)[I absolutely adore both the illustrations and the entire concept of Brendan Wenzel's imaginative and in my opinion oh so true They All Saw a Cat (as everyone, from humans to diverse animal species will by nature see and perceive a given image, in this case a cat, differently, based on both how one's eyes are physically, biologically constructed and how one emotionally and perhaps even philosophically visualises a cat, well actually anything, for that matter). And thus, some of the animals who see the cat will perceive the roaming feline as potential prey (like the fox and perhaps even the dog) while others will perceive the cat as a dangerous predator, even a potential monster (like the depiction of how the mouse sees and considers the cat, a vision straight out of a horror movie, but very apt and in my opinion realistic). Personally though, I most appreciate how the bee is illustrated as seeing the cat (as this demonstrates that insects with their very differently conceptualised and constructed eyes will see a cat, will see anything, as mostly tiny points).

However and actually, EVERY illustration of They All Saw a Cat is indeed simply superb and marvellous, and aside from being a colourful and expressive visual treat, the illustrations as a whole lend themselves very well to enlightening and perhaps even academic discussions on and about both differences of perception (that the latter are often something entirely personal and that everyone therefore also perceives, also sees differently) and that animals (form humans to worms and fleas) all have different types and styles of eyes, of visual organs, with thus different modes and manners of visualisation (biologically and physiologically). And how one is able to see is also, is itself, based on not only perception and biology/physiology but also, naturally, on one's immediate surroundings (for example, when the fish sees the cat, it sees a distortional image due to water, just like the cat later sees itself as similarly and equally distorted when it looks back at its face reflected in a pool of water). Highly recommended and not just for children either! (hide spoiler)]

I love this!!

BLACK CAT (well almost black on the book cover and in the pictures)



Hi, Cat!

(view spoiler)[Now I do indeed realise that Hi, Cat! is a Boston Globe/Horn Book award winner (1970), but that frankly, but that truthfully, I personally am having a sadly and unfortunately pretty much ho-hum reaction. And while author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats' pictorial renderings in Hi, Cat! of Archie, of the cat he salutes and which then follows him around wreaking havoc, of the neighbourhood (as well as of Archie’s friends and companions) are colourfully expressive and descriptive (although I would also not consider these pictures as constituting aesthetic favourites either), Keats’ featured text of Hi, Cat!, well, it kind of feels a trifle strange and confusing (and also truly not all that interesting at least to and for me on a personal level, as I was kind of expecting and hoping for a bit more actual and verbal narrative regarding the cat that is following young Archie around, and that really, the only times the offending feline is even mentioned within the actual textual framework of Hi, Cat! is right at the beginning of the book, when Archie greets it and causes the cat to follow him and then right at the end of Hi, Cat! when Archie complains to both Peter and then to his mother about how the cat's antics have sabotaged his street clowning performance attempts).

And while I do understand that the feline in question is in fact present in almost all of the illustrations featured in Hi, Cat! (and I guess that readers and listeners could therefore also make up their own stories, their own narratives about said cat), I for one would much rather be reading and experiencing more printed words from Ezra Jack Keats, have more of an author conceptualised and penned, guided text regarding the cat's specific antics and how it manages to so completely sabotage Archie's day of hanging out with his friends, his playacting and fun. And thus, only a very low three stars for Hi, Cat! from me, as while I definitely have in no way despised Hi, Cat! I have also not really all that much liked my reading experience either (thus feeling a bit disappointed, only mildly amused and that my three star rating for Hi Cat! is also and in my humble opinion pretty generous on my part). (hide spoiler)]

Not a totally black, but a definitely a mostly black cat!

SPIDER

The Cobweb Christmas


(view spoiler)[I am definitely more than a bit conflicted with regard to the 1982 picture book The Cobweb Christmas (which I am reading on Open Library). Yes, author Shirley Climo does a generally very nice job describing a traditional German Christmas scenario, and I really do appreciate that Tante, that the Auntie character not only goes out to cut down her own Christmas Tree, but that she also leaves enough of the tree for it to regrow, that she does not in fact kill the tree (and wow, I am not even all that annoyed with Climo not providing source materials, which is rather surprising as that usually tends to bother me quite a lot). And indeed, Shirley Climo's entire story for The Cobweb Christmas, it is textually speaking really sweet and delightfully demonstrates not only some wonderfully engaging Christmas magic (but more folkloric than religious-themed), is kind of a pourquoi tale regarding the tradition and origin of tinsel, that the Tante character readily and generally shares her Christmas with the village children and also with the local animals, and importantly, that she also learns a valuable lesson in The Cobweb Christmas and decides to in the future equally include spiders in her Christmas celebrations (since the spiders, with the help of the Christkindel, the Christ Child, have made such a wonderful and magically cobwebby Christmas Tree for her).

However as much as I have enjoyed Shirley Climo's presented text for The Cobweb Christmas, as much as her printed words are magical and also totally and sweetly Christmassy in tone, sorry, but I do have some rather major issues with Joe Lasker's accompanying artwork. For one, while I do admit that Lasker is aesthetically presenting some pretty visually stunning snowscapes in The Cobweb Christmas and that his pictures of the village, the animals, the village children and the also Tante's Christmas Tree are descriptive and nicely cozy-looking, I really do not understand why Tante herself has to be depicted not only quite uglily but for me and to me also rather witch-like (as this certainly gives me an uncomfortable feeling that Joe Lasker might somehow believe that elderly German women physically are supposed to look rather like the witch from the Brothers Grimm's Hansel and Gretel). And for two, and much more problematically in fact, I guess Joe Lasker obviously has NO idea and NO concept of what the German Christkindel is actually supposed to signify and mean. I mean, since the Christkindel was originally created by Martin Luther as a substitute and a replacement for St. Nicholas (and is always depicted in Germany as a generally white clad angel like child), it is both factually wrong and totally strange that Lasker's depicted Christkindel in The Cobweb Christmas is basically a small in stature Santa Claus (which for me makes no sense whatsoever, and I do have wonder why Joe Lasker could not have done his research and to not automatically have assumed that because the American Kriss Kringle is based on the German Christkindel, the latter would also and automatically look like Santa Claus or like St. Nicholas).

Therefore and in my opinion, while textually, my rating for The Cobweb Christmas is solidly four stars and very much enjoyable, Joe Lasker's illustrative take on the Christkindel has certainly bothered me enough to lower my rating for The Cobweb Christmas from four stars (for Shirley Climo's words) to only three stars. (hide spoiler)]

Story is wonderful (and especially how the spiders create tinsel) but do not really like the illustrations all that much.

SPIDER

Wind Scorpions: Killer Jaws

(view spoiler)[Yes indeed, author Sandra Markle in her 2012 science/biology based picture book Wind Scorpions: Killer Jaws presents a vast plethora of interesting, enlightening and very meticulously detailed (researched) scientific facts regarding both arachnids in general (and in particular how arachnids are different from insects and how they are similar) and wind scorpions in particular (that wind scorpions are neither spiders nor true scorpions, that they are never venomous but have large and very powerful jaws with which they can can even kill prey considerably larger than themselves, what wind scorpions look like, how they reproduce and that just like their spider cousins, wind scorpions consume a lot of potential insect pests, so that while a bite from a wind scorpion might indeed be quite painful, wind scorpions’ benefits obviously far outweigh any potential threats they might pose to humans).

Penned in a writing style that is scientifically sound without becoming textually overwhelming, where ALL of the biology and science based terms are also sounded out, are phonetically given in parentheses and where there equally and happily is included a short but more than sufficiently detailed bibliography that lists both books and websites, with Wind Scorpions: Killer Jaws Sandra Markle certainly provides a wonderfully detailed and expansive portrait of what kind of animals wind scorpions are, what their physical attributes are and what their life cycles consist of (and all accompanied by both detailed illustrations and descriptively realistic colour photographs). But since unfortunately, Markle does not really provide all that much information on where on our planet wind scorpions are usually found (whether they are tropical creatures or if their distribution is in fact pan-global) and what their conservation status is, if wind scorpions are in any way vulnerable to possible extinction, for me, Wind Scorpions: Killer Jaws is actually more a trifle incomplete and thus, while still recommended, only a three star reading experience. (hide spoiler)]

Interesting but also rather incomplete and a bit annoying due to this.

WITCH

The Winter Witch

(view spoiler)[With Clay Bonnyman Evans' 2005 picture book The Winter Witch, Christmas does not seem to be anything but horrid this year and also very much different for young protagonist Stephen, with his parents divorced, his mother living in California (and although not specifically textually mentioned by Bonnyman Evans perhaps not having custody of Stephen and his older sister Sarah either), his father married to Deborah, and with everyone now living at the stepmother's house (that Deborah's and her son Ari's home is now also Stephen's, Sarah's and their father's home).

And with Deborah and Ari being Jewish and Hanukkah celebrations thus of course featuring prominently (although Clay Bonnyman Evans also points out in The Winter Witch that the house has both a Christmas tree and a menorah), Stephen is shown by Bonnyman Evans as obviously and strongly emotionally finding it rather difficult to cope with and to accept all these changes and in particular that his beloved dog Dewey is constantly at odds with Deborah and Ari's cat Polly (not to mention that Dewey is also pretty much solely being blamed for those spats as well). Therefore when Dewey is booted out of the house in The Winter Witch after yet another pretty violent encounter with Polly (and will according to Stephen's father have to remain outside in the cold until he learns to no longer stalk and bother Polly) Stephen also storms out into the woods in anger and there encounters Mathilda, a mysterious elderly woman whom Stephen's stepbrother Ari has described as being a witch. But instead of being someone in any way frightening or uncanny, as someone in any manner sorceress like, Mathilda (and for me very much delightfully) is textually shown by Bonnyman Evans in The Winter Witch as basically a nature and wildlife loving wise and sweet-tempered woman, as someone who uses a Yule log in her fireplace instead of a Christmas tree, who strings berries and popcorn on the trees outside of her home for wintering birds, who has Stephen cut a hole into the ice of a nearby pond so that wildlife can drink and who shows the angry and frustrated with Christmas and life in general Stephen that there is in fact not much difference between winter celebrations such as Yule, Hanukkah and Christmas (since they all celebrate light, comfort and warmth) and that his dog can also get along with cats (and yes, when Stephen returns home at the end of The Winter Witch with a much more positive and optimistic attitude, this also seems to have been transferred to his dog, as Dewey accepts Polly and no longer tries to antagonise and harass her).

A lovely little tale (for me at least) The Winter Witch has been, but not really (and for that I am in fact glad) about anything magical and witchy but rather a sweet and emotionally satisfying story about blended families, about how winter celebrations are often very much similar with their focus on light, on joy, and yes, that wildlife, that birds, raccoons, cougars, rabbits etc. also deserve treats and comfort during the yuletide season. But while I really do absolutely adore Clay Bonnyman Evans' presented text for The Winter Witch, sorry, but the same can unfortunately not be said by me with regard to Robert Bender's accompanying artwork. For while there is an interesting impressionistic visual feel to Bender's pictures and that they also do a pretty decent job visually mirroring Bonnyman Evans' printed words, the way Bender uses colours in The Winter Witch is far too often a bit too clashingly garish and his human figures are (at least for me and in my opinion) rather aesthetically strange and also often make no logical sense either (such as for example that how Robert Bender has illustratively rendered Stephen's sister Sarah as she is seated on the sofa with Ari makes her look not like the teenager she is supposed to be but rather appearing more like a decrepit and frail old woman, and that Mathilda, while she does not look like a witch of course and fortunately in The Winter Witch also visually appears not really as someone all that approachable but more like some remote and cold goddess like figure, and which according to the author's, according to Clay Bonnyman Evans' featured text for The Winter Witch is most definitely not the case at all).

And thus, for me, while Bonnyman Evans' presented story for The Winter Witch is solidly and wonderfully, delightfully five stars for me, the illustrations are just not all that aesthetically appealing so that therefore the combination of words and artwork for The Winter Witch can only be three stars, a high three stars of course and I do in fact recommend The Winter Witch, but that no, with Robert Bender's not really visually appealing to me accompanying pictures, I cannot really consider a higher rating for The Winter Witch. (hide spoiler)]

Lovely story, but I did not at all enjoy the illustrations and found them garish.

WITCH

Two Little Witches: A Halloween Counting Story

(view spoiler)[So I do very much realise that Harriet Ziefert's Two Little Witches: A Halloween Counting Story is meant to be simplistic and is as such also totally geared towards younger children first learning how to count from one to ten (adding up to ten but of course then also subtracting down to zero). However and albeit that with regard to showing bona fide counting practice Two Little Witches: A Halloween Counting Story does generally succeed sufficiently well enough in and of itself, I have definitely also found Harriet's Ziefert's text (how she actually presents the numbers from one to ten on paper) not only (and probably by necessity) rather monotonous in scope but also more than a bit awkward in cadence and rhythm, and actually sometimes even a trifle strangely involved and convoluted even with the featured and to be expected textual repetitiveness and simplicity of Two Little Witches: A Halloween Counting Story (leaving an in my opinion rather strange melange of over-busyness and over-superficiality).

And well, considering that this rather frustrating state of affairs is then also mirrored (at least in my humble opinion) with and by Simms Taback's expressively colourful and bright but also (for my aesthetics and tastes) visually much too busy accompanying illustrations (since yes and in my opinion, how ridiculously scrunched together the featured trick or treating characters are depicted by Simms Taback as being certainly tends to make physically counting them whilst following along with Harriet Ziefert's printed words rather difficult at times and especially so for those readers/listeners who might have visual tracking issues), while I would still (even though with some reservations and caveats) recommend Two Little Witches: A Halloween Counting Story, for me personally, two stars is the maximum ranking I am willing and able to consider (because yes indeed, even as a young child, I would more than likely have found Harriet Ziefert's text for Two Little Witches: A Halloween Counting Story tedious and Simms Taback's illustrations much too difficult and buzzing to easily track and follow with regard to counting the presented, the depicted Halloween characters). (hide spoiler)]

Not really to my taste, and my inner child agrees.

WITCH

The Christmas Witch

(view spoiler)[Although I have found the illustrations for Steven Kellogg's The Christmas Witch colourful and for the most part delightfully and yes often also humorously descriptive, truth be told, but I cannot even remotely consider Kellogg's presented text as being to my reading tastes. For aside from The Christmas Witch feeling and reading like a rather strange mixture of Witch Academy (such as J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and Gillian Murphy's The Worst Witch series) and a bit of science fiction clad in the loose garments of Mediaevalism thematics, both the main antagonist, Madame Pestilence, and the positive and heroic characters presented, they are all and sundry in my opinion frustratingly and annoyingly too one-sidedly stereotypically evil or good (in a manner that while Steven Kellogg obviously means this to be humorous and engaging, it just does not work and becomes massively tedious and boring, with especially that angel character feeling like a standard Hallmark Christmas card entity with no deep significance and Madame Pestilence and her minions too cardboard thin to even somewhat find interesting and engaging).

And in fact, the ONLY characters in The Christmas Witch whom I personally have found somewhat believable and relatable are the Pepperwills and the Valdoons (even if they are seemingly aliens, albeit aliens who both look and act like mediaeval knights and ladies). For yes, it does make basic common sense that even after Gloria has renovated the castle, that after centuries of animosity and feuding, both Pepperwills and Valdoons would naturally still be suspicious of each other and would not suddenly and out of the blue become firm and committed friends.

Now while I do kind of appreciate the final message of The Christmas Witch that in order to keep the magic of Christmas, to keep Madame Pestilence from reappearing and wreaking havoc, the Pepperwills and the Valdoons will need to permanently bury their proverbial hatchets and become allies, in my opinion, the entire storyline of The Christmas Witch has been at best rather forced and artificial, not to mention on the surface, and with not really all that much authorial originality either (for indeed, I do find that Steven Kellogg has just taken a bunch of common fairy tale and fantasy plot elements and melded them into a strange and uninspiring, monotonous whole, with a bit of science fiction thrown in for good measure and characters who are for the most part undeveloped and lacking in any kind of nuance). Two stars maximum (and yes, those two stars are actually and really only for the fact that I do find the illustrations accompanying the narrative visually enchanting and aesthetically pleasing, for if I were to consider The Christmas Witch according to how much I have not found Steven Kellogg's text to my likes and reading tastes, I would only be ranking this book with one star). (hide spoiler)]

Good illustrations, annoying story!

WITCH

Baba Yaga and the Wise Doll

(view spoiler)[As a story and in and of itself, I very much enjoy Hiawyn Oram's Baba Yaga and the Wise Doll. Too-Nice's doll (a with a living and active spirit imbued memento of her deceased mother) behaves in many ways like a benevolent and much more non demanding Rumpelstlizchen or perhaps Cinderella's tame mice and birds, physically helping the heroine complete the three tasks (the magical number three again) set by Baba Yaga, and Too-Nice then repays the doll's services by listening to and acting on her wise council (not asking for a toad for Horrid and Very-Horrid, but telling Baba Yaga that she has come to be frightened by her, as that is Baba Yaga's vocation, thereby much impressing and cheering Baba Yaga and with Too-Nice still receiving as a reward what she had originally planned to ask for, two of Baba Yaga's toads).

That Too-Nice might, in fact, actually be simply the non nastily temperamental and non troublesome manifestation of the same little girl (and that the toads which gobble up Horrid and Very-Horrid are thus simply ridding the former of her not so nice and not so stellar personality traits, leaving a girl who is neither too nice nor too horrid but just right) is ingenious and interesting (but I am not so sure I would have easily recognised this somewhat hidden potential meaning of Baba Yaga and the Wise Doll without Ruth Brown's accompanying illustrations which clearly show that the three little girls are mirror images of one another and thus either triplets or much more likely three distinct personality types of one and the same). In fact, the illustrations provide not only a successful and evocative mirror and expansion of Hiawyn Oram's narrative, Ruth Brown's pictorial offerings also clearly demonstrate that this Baba Yaga is most definitely more ambiguous than simply and demonically evil, with both nurturing and frightening qualities, somewhat witch-like perhaps, but not really the traditional evil and demonic witch of culture and folklore. For while she is definitely frightening, this Baba Yaga is actually described and depicted (by both text and image) as much more akin to the ambiguous forest mother and Frau Holle archetypes of Russian and European culture and lore, both positive and negative, a harsh and potentially even dangerous examiner, but also a tester who, if her tasks are completed with satisfaction and the right questions are asked, will not hesitate to offer deserved and useful rewards.

Now as much as I do enjoy and appreciate both Hiawyn Oram's text and Ruth Brown accompanying images, I cannot really consider ranking Baba Yaga and the Wise Doll with more than three stars (although as a story it is or would be definitely be worth closer to four or perhaps even five stars). For considering that this is a retelling of a traditional Russian folk tale (likely the well-known Vasilisa the Beautiful, where the heroine Vasilisa also has her deceased mother's treasured wooden doll and and is sent by her evil and nasty stepmother to fetch light from Baba Yaga's hut, encountering similar tasks and similar questions as are encountered by Too-Nice in Baba Yaga and the Wise Doll), I simply do neither understand nor even accept that there has not been an author's note included (not only would such an author's note increase the academic and folkloric value of Baba Yaga and the Wise Doll, but frankly I consider the fact that the author has chosen not to include any kind of acknowledgment of her sources as rather an insult to both Russian folklore in general and to Alexander Afanasyev, who is credited with having first collected and published the tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful). (hide spoiler)]

Needs an author's note, but enjoyable.

WITCH

Dorrie and the Play

(view spoiler)[Delightfully sweetly simple and indeed also a total celebration of the power of imagination and dealing with potential problems and setbacks that arise resourcefully and with thoughtful genius, Patricia Coombs' Dorrie and the Play is the very first of the Dorrie, the Little Witch books I have had the pleasure to read (an appreciated Christmas present from my Goodreads friend Abigail and yes, I am now definitely determined to continue with the remainder of the series, although it does sadly seem as though many of the series tomes are not in current, are not in recent print anymore).

And while I do admit that I certainly was a bit surprised at first how in Dorrie and the Play there is actually no sorcery at all being either used or even described (as Dorrie creates her fairy tale play using imaginative costumes and hilariously, also a can of sardines to get her cat Gink to cooperate and participate, and yes, even Dorrie's mother, the Big Witch, does not end up using any kind of magic to fix her accidentally shortened costume gown, but simply alters it a trifle to suit the new circumstances), I actually have both not only not at all missed the absence of witchery and magic, but also do very much appreciate how Patricia Coombs in Dorrie and the Play shows and demonstrates that first and foremost Dorrie is simply a standard little girl with a pet cat (living in a house with a grumpy but actually deep down inside of herself sweetly tempered cook and a mother who is at times perhaps a bit distant and prone to headaches but also always willing to indulge her daughter's imagination and to not go overboard with anger when/if things might go a bit awry). Highly recommended and in my opinion perfect for beginning readers is Dorrie and the Play (and with both Patricia Coombs' story and her expressively fun accompanying artwork providing a lovely and entertainingly engaging marriage of text and imagery). (hide spoiler)]

Really liked story and wish the series were more readily available.

WITCH/MONSTER

Dorrie and the Dreamyard Monsters

(view spoiler)[Perhaps a tiny bit overly simple with regard to how quickly everything (and all potential issues and emerging problems) end up being resolved (and how easily Dorrie also seems to always reach the correct and best conclusions and thereby saving the day so to speak), but yes, Patricia Coombs' Dorrie and the Dreamyard Monsters has most certainly made me rather broadly smile with reading pleasure (and yes indeed, I do very much enjoy that it is in fact also a series of inadvertent conjuring mistakes as to why Dorrie is in fact able to successfully gentle and deal with the monsters of Dreamland, to save the Dream Witch from her imprisonment and to also end up with a very cute and cuddly monster pet, although I have to wonder what Gink the cat might think of Dorrie's new playmate).

Delightfully penned and not ever either too creepy or too frightening, Dorrie and the Dreamyard Monsters is (in my humble opinion) an almost totally and utterly perfect and magical reading gem to share with children who might want and desire tales of witches, monsters and magic but who are not as yet quite emotionally and psychologically ready and mature enough to face, say, the much more frightening and at times even horrifying worlds of the Harry Potter series (and of course, Dorrie and the Dreamyard Monsters would also be a wonderful personal reading experience for recently independent readers, with author/illustrator Patricia Coombs' artwork providing a sweet and descriptively lovely in every way visual accompaniment to her equally magical and imaginative narrative).

Highly recommended is Dorrie and the Dreamyard Monsters, and indeed, my only complaint is actually that the majority of the Dorrie the Little Witch series of books is not in current print and not all that easily available even used (and yes, often rather majorly expensive if one manages to in fact locate a title). And thus, I really do wish that Egmont UK Limited (which has recently republished Dorrie and the Play, Dorrie and the Dreamyard Monsters, Dorrie and the Blue Witch and Dorrie and the Wizard's Spell) would also consider the same for the remainder of the series. (hide spoiler)]

Fun but also a bit basic, but I enjoyed that.

BAT

Amazing Bats

(view spoiler)[So because of the 2005 publication date, albeit that with his Amazing Bats Seymour Simon certainly does an excellent job telling his intended audience all about bats, showing child readers and listeners from about the age of six to eight or nine how bats live, what they eat, how they hunt etc. (both smaller insect consuming microbats and the larger fruit eating flying foxes of the tropics, and of course Amazing Bats also mentions the blood lapping vampire bats of Central and South America), you will naturally not be encountering any findings, research and conservation questions/issues regarding bats later than 2005, such as for example the recent and lethal fungal infections that have been decimating in particular many cave dwelling bat colonies in large parts of North America, and yes, this is most definitely something to keep in mind about Amazing Bats.

But even though Amazing Bats most definitely is a bit out of date, for me this does not really bother me all that much (since I do very much appreciate the textual details presented and that Seymour Simon also strives to both keep his narrative decently simple and also repeatedly points out that bats generally pose no threat to humans and are actually insect vermin destroyers par excellence). And thus, that for me Amazing Bats is still only a three star rating actually and indeed has nothing really to do with the above mentioned datedness (even though I do think this is necessary to mention, to point out) but mostly that for one, there is no included bibliography in Amazing Bats (with Seymour Simon neither acknowledging his sources nor providing book suggestions or websites for further study and reading) and that for two, I also really am missing a section on bat evolution (as the history of how bats are thought to have slowly changed over time to become completely airborne and the only group of truly flying mammals is both interesting and also would in my opinion render Amazing Bats and as such Seymour Simon’s printed words considerably more complete). (hide spoiler)]

A bit dated, and I do want information on bat evolution.

BAT

Outside And Inside Bats

(view spoiler)[Albeit that with regard to the majority of Sandra Markle’s non-fiction science based picture books I have read to date, I generally do remain quite impressed with how she manages to be both sufficiently factually informational and also stylistically engaging for her intended age groups, with her 1997 Outside and Inside Bats (which from its presented narrative, from Markle’s vocabulary choices, looks like it is in my humble opinion probably conceptualised for older children from about the age of nine or so onwards), I have to admit that this has most definitely NOT AT ALL been the case for me here (and so much do, that I am likely also not going to bother trying any of Markle’s other Outside and Inside books, even though I do have some of them on my to read list and that the one about dinosaurs does still kind of interest me).

For indeed, while the specific contents on bat anatomy are certainly meticulously detailed, the fact that in Outside and Inside Bats Sandra Markle basically mostly just seems to focus on what bats look like, what their anatomy and their physical attributes are, this, combined with a verbally unflowing, pedantic and dragging writing style has indeed rendered Outside and Inside Bats annoyingly textbook-like in form, absolutely drily tedious, and as such a personal reading experience where I in fact ended up massively textually uninterested half way through and only very vaguely and quickly skimmed through much of Outside and Inside Bats, and indeed with so little reading pleasure and joy that I have ended up totally, massively bored and in fact not at all pleased at having in my opinion rather wasted my reading time on Outside and Inside Bats. And well, if I as an older and also academically trained adult do consider Sandra Markle’s textual presentation in Outside and Inside Bats neither enjoyable nor even all that interesting, read majorly preachy and boring, I do equally and also think that the narrational reaction by the older children for whom Outside and Inside Bats has supposedly been penned, will more than likely be even more negative than mine has been.

Therefore, as a science and biology themed picture book on bats, for me, Outside and Inside Bats has been a pretty major reading disappointment and failure, and is in my humble opinion only suitable for an extremely limited in-class use, such as if for example, in a biology class, the teacher is very specifically covering bat anatomy. But even with this possible educational use in mind, that in Outside and Inside Bats Sandra Markle includes no bibliography and no suggestions for further reading, this really in my opinion utterly diminishes any and all educational benefits and makes Outside and Inside Bats absolutely and sadly into only a one star tome (which might indeed be a bit harsh as an assessment since I have actually quite visually enjoyed the accompanying photographs, but with my massive and complete textual tedium and my academic anger at the author, at Sandra Markle not including any bibliographic materials whatsoever, sorry, but one star for Outside and Inside Bats is what I have decided on and what I personally do consider absolutely correct and justified as a ranking). (hide spoiler)]

Did not enjoy, tedious, dragging, text-book like and with no bibliography.

PUMPKIN

Spin to Sea

(view spoiler)[Although some of the rhymes presented in Izra Fitch's Spin to Sea read and flow perhaps a bit awkwardly, and I actually do have to wonder whether the text is supposed to be mainly lyrical prose or poetry (as it is almost as though the narrative cannot make up its mind, vacillating between rhyming poetry and a type of poetic prose, which although lyrical, does not tend to rhyme), the text, the narrative of Spin to Sea more than adequately describes the joy, the community spirit and sweet charm of this annual (and actual) communal event (where on Halloween, in a small Nova Scotia community, carved pumpkins are floated out to sea by costume clad children). And truth be told, I was actually at first somewhat surprised by the fact that pumpkins are able float, but after checking images of floating pumpkins on the internet, yes, indeed, pumpkins do seem to be able to float (and hollowed out, carved pumpkins even more so, as their insides have been removed, leaving only that hollow and carved outer shell).

The added fact that the main author/illustrator of Spin to Sea, that Izra Fitch, is but fifteen years old (or at least was only fifteen years old when Spin to Sea was published) adds to my enjoyment and yes, sense of awe. While her mother (Nova Scotia author and artist Doretta Groenendyk) seemingly cowrote the narrative with Izra, the illustrations are ALL by the latter, and they are simply wonderful, expressive, whimsical, bold, with an almost uncanny sense of colour, and frankly a rather perfect combination of text and image, as narrative and illustrations, small issues with awkwardness of cadence and rhyme notwithstanding, demonstrate a lively and loving homage to not only community and community spirit and tradition, but also to the sea itself, to the magical call and rhythm of the sea. But furthermore, the pumpkins being floated on ocean waves also show the marriage of earth and sea, as the carved pumpkins, which are of the earth, are set afloat in and embraced by the sea, by its waves, beauty, sense of mystery, and perhaps even a bit of possible danger.

And truly, Spin to Sea is a wonderful little gem of a Halloween/autumn picture book that really does deserve to be more universally known and read (I literally stumbled across it at my local library in the fall of 2015 whist doing research for Thanksgiving and Halloween themed picture books for one of my GR book clubs, and I am so glad that I did indeed decide to sign it out; it brought and and still continues to bring smiles to my face and a fervent hope that the young author/illustrator, that Izra Fitch will keep writing, drawing and harvesting appreciation and laughter).

Now for me, personally, as someone who has always loved reading about and discovering diverse cultural traditions, I would most definitely have appreciated a bit of an informative author's note regarding the specific history and genesis of this particular (and seemingly very local Nova Scotia Annapolis Valley) Halloween custom. The lack of the same does not in any way interfere with my enjoyment of Spin to Sea, I just think that the inclusion of an author's note would have increased the teaching and learning potential of the book. Highly recommended! (hide spoiler)]

Delightful (and written by a teenager), a lovely depiction of a Nova Scotian Annapolis Valley Halloween tradition.

PUMPKIN

Snow Pumpkin

(view spoiler)[Carol Lexa Schaefer's Snow Pumpkin sweetly and evocatively presents a basic and simple little anecdote of how two friends combine an early snowfall on Halloween with making a traditional snowman (using snow for the body, but then, when there obviously is not sufficient snow yet for the head, putting a pumkin on top, hence and of course the title of Snow Pumpkin).

Now although I cannot really claim that I have in any way been "blown away" by this story, Snow Pumpkin has indeed (with both Carol Lexa Schaefer's sweet and gentle narrative and Pierr Morgan's accompanying, tenderly luminous and descriptive accompanying illustrations) made my heart warm and my eyes smiling, and truly, that is really all which is sometimes required and which matters when reading. So yes, Snow Pumpkin is indeed most highly recommended (and I do oh so much appreciate the multi-ethnic and multi-generaltional feel of this book and that this is thankfully never made into a huge deal, that first and foremost, Snow Pumpkin is simly and utterly, magically a glowing and entertaining presentation of two friends using their imagination during a late October snowfall to make a snowman, and using a pumpkin for the snowman's head when there clearly is not enough snow on the ground as yet to make an entire snowman from top to bottom). (hide spoiler)]

Fun and sweet, nothing spectacular but a a nice description of how friends use a pumpkin to make a snowman.

PUMPKIN

How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?

(view spoiler)[Although Margaret McNamara's engaging, evocative narrative is perhaps a bit too math-oriented for me to ever consider How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin a personal favourite (as I am just not that enamoured of math as a subject), this is indeed a delightful little story, and perfect for an elementary school math class (or a unit on sizes and comparisons, contrasts), especially around Thanksgiving or Halloween (and not just in the classroom, but also for either at home or home-schooling use).

I absolutely love and also greatly appreciate how teacher Mr. Tiffin always actively and imaginatively strives to make his math lessons engaging, fun and meaningful for his students, and how he shows little Charlie that being the smallest student in class is simply a fact of life and entirely relative (as the small pumpkin Charlie carves actually ends up containing the most seeds).

As to G. Brian Karas' accompanying illustrations, while by themselves they are a bit too cartoon-like and garish for my aesthetics, for my personal tastes, in conjunction with Margaret McNamara's narrative, they work exceedingly well, presenting a fun and successful marriage of text and image (depicting an ethnically diverse group of students, and a smiling teacher who makes math, who makes learning fun and meaningful). Highly recommended (and even though personally, I would have liked more supplemental pumpkin facts, those who know me should realise by now that I almost always want more information). (hide spoiler)]

Fun and math!!

PUMPKIN

Pumpkin Soup

(view spoiler)[I absolutely and simply just so much adore author and illustrator Helen Cooper's delightful images for her Pumpkin Soup. They are expressive, brightly colourful and that little Duck in many ways rather strongly reminds me of Walt Disney's Donald Duck at both his most lovable and his most cranky and curmudgeonly, has really made me and still always does make me smile with both nostalgia and total appreciation (as I fondly remember how much as a child I used to enjoy Donald Duck comics).

However and much more important (essential) than my personal aesthetic enjoyment of Helen Cooper’s illustrations is the fact that the narrative of Pumpkin Soup, that Cooper’s featured text demonstrates a very and much essential, necessary message to and for children (and yes, even for adults as well), namely that one needs to be flexible and always open to and willing to change. For while Duck might well have been rude and a trifle obnoxious in the way he keeps loudly insisting on being allowed to stir the soup, Squirrel and Cat should also and truly have been more open to accept change, to try new ways and means of cooking (and indeed, including allowing Duck to also participate). And I can thus certainly understand and even very openly appreciate why Duck during the course of his argument in Pumpkin Soup simply up and leaves home. I mean, Squirrel and Cat are not only unwilling to consider trying new ways, of changing, they also make rather nasty and disparaging fun of his size, and of Duck’s supposedly substandard abilities and capabilities (and no wonder then in my opinion, that Duck finally becomes angry enough to utter some not so sweet and acceptable words and even leaves home for a while). And yes, it is also too bad that my library copy does not contain the pumpkin soup recipe that some of the other editions of Pumpkin Soup seemingly include (as I certainly would have loved to try cooking some pumpkin soup, but I also do not much desire to purchase any more picture books for a while, as I have too many picture books figuratively coming out of my proverbial ears so to speak and no more shelf space, period). (hide spoiler)]

Cute story (and I love the added recipe).

MONSTER

She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein

(view spoiler)[Now while I have generally found Lynn Fulton's 2018 picture book biography She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein atmospheric enough and certainly capturing the oppressive mood (both geographically, climatically and spiritually, esoterically) that caused Mary Shelley to come up with the themes and storyline for her famous 1818 novel Frankenstein (the constant rain and lighting, the contest suggested by Lord Byron as to who could write the best and most thrilling ghost story, the scenario of Mary Shelley remembering instances of scientists using electricity on the dead to involuntarily move their limbs, and last but not least, Mary Shelley's dream of an animated artificially created creature visiting her bedroom), well, after reading the author's note and realising that while Lynn Fulton has generally kept to the 1831 introduction of Frankenstein, where Mary Shelley tells her readers exactly how her monster story came to be, that episode in She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein of Mary looking at a portrait of her deceased mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, seems to have been entirely imagined by the author, this fact has certainly taken a considerable portion of the proverbial shine away from my potential reading pleasure regarding She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein.

For not only am I entirely not in agreement with Lynn Fulton's claim that it is somehow important to mention Mary Shelley's mother, Mary Wollstonecraft (and that she died in childbirth) in She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein (and really, if you are going to be writing a picture book biography or even a picture book memoir or biographical interlude, you should in my opinion keep to the truth and to reality as much as possible and not add fictional musings and inclusions simply because you happen to feel like it), that entire episode of Mary Shelley thinking about her deceased mother to calm herself (and by looking at her portrait) after having listened to Percy Brysshe Shelley (her future husband) talking about electrical animation of corpses really does at least to and for me read as more or less tacked on so to speak, as though Lynn Fulton just personally needed to have Mary Wollstonecraft also make an appearance in She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein come what may.

Combined with the fact that although I do realise Felicita Sala's accompanying illustrations totally capture and mirror the atmosphere of doom, gloom, mystery and creepiness of Lynn Fulton's narrative, of the presented storyline of She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein, personally and aesthetically, Sala's pictures are simply much too freaky and yes even visually frightening to and for my eyes. And indeed, if I had encountered She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein as a child or even as a tween, while I would not likely have had any issues whatsoever with Lynn Fulton's printed words, with her presented text frightening me or creeping me out, the same would likely not have been the case with Felicita Sala's artwork, that especially the pictures of the various monsters inhabiting the pages of She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein and that many of the gentlemen telling their stories and anecdotes often are depicted with rather tentacle and claw like fingers, that would probably have given me nightmares. (hide spoiler)]

Illustrations are too creepy for me and author adds some fictional musings I find a bit annoying.

MONSTER

Banshees (Monsters

(view spoiler)[ Well, I do tend to find the title of Kelli M. Brucken’s picture book about Banshees (Monsters - Banshees) more than a bit misleading, since I personally do not really believe that we should be describing and labelling Banshees as somehow being monsters. And I do in fact actually wonder if the heading of Monsters - Banshees has been chosen on purpose by perhaps Kidhaven Press to exaggerate and focus on potential horror, which would absolutely be ridiculous and problematic in my opinion. For truly, Brucken’s text does not ever from where I am standing depict Banshees as monstrous horror creatures, but rather mythological, legendary beings who are generally seen as female harbingers of illness and death, sometimes considered to be ghosts but more commonly considered to be fairies and generally Celtic in origin.

But indeed in Monsters - Banshees (and I indeed do despise that title and having to make use of it in my review but I guess I will have to do that), Kelli M. Brucken also shows that beings foretelling death are in fact globally common. So while the majority of her examples and stories of banshees and banshee like entities are Irish, Scottish and Welsh, she also has some examples from the USA and elsewhere, and yes, all of these are similar in so far that they are like typical creatures or ghost like beings of warning, telling individuals of their or of a close family member’s impending demise (and with a mournful, wailing sound).

Interesting, engagingly penned and with Kelli A. Brucken also pointing out that the wail of a banshee is considered by some to perhaps come from nocturnal animal sounds, and that during illnesses, people might of course be more ready to believe creatures predicting an impending death, I have definitely quite enjoyed reading Monsters - Banshees (and do really appreciate that the included bibliography features both books and websites). But I do remain more than a trifle annoyed and frustrated enough with the book title of Monsters - Banshees and that Banshees are in my opinion thus by extension deemed to be monsters like Padfoot, Sasquatch, the Golem etc. for my rating to be more than three stars. (hide spoiler)]

Are banshees ghosts or monsters?

MONSTER

The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster: A Tale of Picky Eating

(view spoiler)[Well, I certainly have very much textually enjoyed The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster: A Tale of Picky Eating, Alice W. Flaherty’s imaginative take on the origin of the famous Loch Ness Monster and how in her story, it all seems to have begun with a little American girl travelling alone by ship to Scotland and repeatedly tossing her despised oatmeal into the ocean, thereby feeding a diminutive sea worm who not only enjoys eating said oatmeal but then follows Katerina-Elizabeth and her hated breakfast fare all the way to Loch Ness, growing larger and larger until it reaches truly epic and monstrous proportions (and I certainly did smile at the monster finally advertising for more and more oatmeal by letting itself be repeatedly seen and photographed and tourists to Scotland eager to catch a glimpse then once again and just like little Katerina-Elizabeth tossing their oatmeal into Loch Ness for Nessie to consume).

However, I actually am someone who does in fact much enjoy eating ALL of the foods which the author seems to consider as unpalatable and monster food (oatmeal, haggis, suet cake) and also do have to wonder why at least one of the despised foods of The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster: A Tale of Picky Eating could not have been a vegetable like Brussels sprouts or broccoli. But of course, The Luck of the Loch Ness: A Tale of Picky Eating is Alice W. Flaherty’s story, and she can therefore describe any foods she so desires as being horrible and to be tossed aside and into the water (but I do question why all of the undesirable food items have to be Scottish, as this does seem a bit as though Flaherty has a hatred on for Scottish cuisine, something that in my opinion is at best a bit nasty and arrogant and could easily have been avoided if not every unliked food in this picture book hailed from Scotland).

Still The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster: A Tale of Picky Eating is a fun and original pourquoi type of fantasy (and one that should definitely appeal to fans of Nessie and her many legends, as well as I suppose to children who are picky eaters, not to mention to oatmeal haters). And my only reason for a three and not a four star ranking for The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster: A Tale of Picky Eating is that on a personal and aesthetic level, I have found Scott Magoon’s accompanying artwork too dark and somber colour-wise for me and many of the human figures depicted as much too frowning and miserable with regard to their facial expressions (although indeed, the little sea worm that later morphs into the Loch Ness Monster is really quite sweetly and delightfully depicted, as gigantic at the end, of course, but usually smiling and with a happy disposition). (hide spoiler)]

Enjoyable!!

MONSTER

Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book

(view spoiler)[Yes, yes, yes and indeed in very many ways, Kyle and Derek Sullivan's 2017 board book Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book is visually and illustratively fun, presents an engaging, delightful and gloriously colourful tool for teaching and practicing both adding the numbers from one to ten and also later subtracting the numbers from ten to one (and with the Sullivan brothers for Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book using a creative assortment of cutely rendered magical Irish creatures/monsters, the banshee of the book title, ghosts, hobgoblins, bog monsters, trolls, fairy warriors, leprechauns as well as some local Irish fishermen and a group of druids alongside of cleverly rollicking and playful rhymes to teach young children their numbers and how to count both forwards and backwards).

And indeed, Derek Sullivan’s (digital) artwork for Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book is cartoony, sweet and he adds sufficient detail to the illustrations without the pictures becoming visually overwhelming for the intended age group, for toddlers from about the age of two to four or five, so that Banshee for example is shown with a cheery disposition, as playful, perpetually excited, and that yes, all of the magical creatures featured in Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book are depicted as being never frightening or creepy looking (and indeed, with the only mildly or potentially uncanny appearing illustrations Sullivan features in Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book in fact being humans and not really the monsters and ghosts, being the Irish fishermen and in particular those nine druids with their large and expressionless eyes, that the Irish folklore creatures of Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book look huggably cuddly and with no physical attributes or features that could in my opinion scare or creep out young and/or sensitive children).

But just to point that while I do like the general set-up for Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book and that the combination of Derek Sullivan's fun and colourful pictures and his twin brother Kyle's lively text does tend to make me smile (and is both toddler friendly and also for the most part very nicely numerically educational), there unfortunately are three textual issues I have found with Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book (and that taken together they sufficiently annoy and frustrate me to negatively and lastingly affect potential reading pleasure and thus also my star rating, which has now slipped from an original consideration of four to but three stars).

For one (and yes indeed, this does kind of hugely make me cringe), while I certainly appreciate the idea of Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book teaching young children that there are times for being noisy and times for being quiet, I certainly and hugely chafe at the fact that Banshee is always being told to be quiet, that she is never being told in Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book that it is alright and fine to sometimes be loud and exuberantly boisterous (and considering that Banshee is illustrated and obviously meant to be a little girl, there certainly is a feeling that little girls should be seen and not heard all that much inhabiting the pages of Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book and that this does make me feel rather frustrated and also rather uncomfortable). For two, while the numbers from one to nine in Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book appear nicely linear and straight-forward, counting backwards from ten becomes more than a bit confusing and as such also a trifle annoying (and should definitely be handled by Kyle Sullivan in a more organised and less potentially distracting and confusing manner). Finally, for three (and although not in any manner a huge deal and just something that would be or could be interesting for care givers, for parents, teachers, babysitters etc.) I do wish that at the back of Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book there would be a bit of folkloric information on the druids, banshees, bog monsters etc. provided (and maybe a list of book titles for further reading as well). (hide spoiler)]

Fun, but there really should be some information on banshees as a folklore creature included, and I do not like how everyone keeps telling the banshee to be totally quiet.

MONSTER

Goodnight Krampus

(view spoiler)[Yes, in many ways the 2016 Christmas themed board book Goodnight Krampus is a delightful bedtime story (and also nostalgically reminiscent of Margaret Wise Brown's 1947 classic Goodnight Moon), with Kyle Sullivan for Goodnight Krampus textually and his twin brother Derek illustratively simply, sweetly and with gentle humour recounting how Santa Claus bids various North Pole residents goodnight on Christmas Eve before he is supposed to leave on his sleigh to deliver presents, namely Santa's hardworking elves (and I do appreciate that Derek Sullivan's artwork shows ethnic diversity amongst those elves), some narwals, a Yeti (which for me kind of harkens back to the 1964 Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer stop-motion television special and a very similar looking Yeti) and of course according to the book title a Krampus character from Central and Eastern European Alpine Christmas folklore (Austria, the German province of Bavaria, parts of Switzerland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Northern Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia).

But indeed, the Sullivan Brothers' Krampus in Goodnight Krampus is actually and in fact not at all the monstrous, devilish looking and often even rather threatening entity of tradition (and who is also someone often featured as accompanying Saint Nicholas on his travels, with Krampus giving out coal, threats and wooden switches to naughty children while Saint Nicholas rewards good behaviour with praise, toys and sweetmeats) but is instead being shown in Goodnight Krampus by both Kyle Sullivan's words and by Derek Sullivan's illustrations as just a cute-looking and active toddler-like creature (with small and adorable horns, large expressive eyes and certainly never looking either demonic or frighteningly creepy) who is too excited about Christmas to willingly go to bed when told to do so by Santa Claus. And thus, Santa Claus has to find a way to gently but firmly convince little Krampus to go to sleep and which in Goodnight Krampus the Sullivan Brothers achieve by pointing out both verbally and illustratively that Santa will not be able to leave on his gift delivery sleigh ride until all the denizens of the North Pole, and indeed including young Krampus are tucked away and slumbering, that by staying awake, Krampus actually even runs the risk of not getting his own Christmas presents delivered by Santa on time and perhaps even at all and which almost immediately then makes Krampus agree to go to bed without further complaints (and that Goodnight Krampus provides a fun and basic bedtime Christmas story with a lovely rhyming text and colourfully fun accompanying artwork that my inner toddler absolutely and totally adores).

However, although my above mentioned inner toddler gives a solid and celebratory five star rating to Goodnight Krampus and finds the combination of text and images both successful and absolutely smile and delight inducing (and that I also most warmly recommend Goodnight Krampus for young children from about the age of two to four or five), my older adult reading self (and also my inner child above the toddler phase), yes, we do tend to think that Goodnight Krampus is actually if being completely honest not really about the Krampus of European lore, for it that were in fact the case, Kyle and Derek Sullivan should have their Krampus character be accompanying Santa Claus on his sleigh ride to deliver Christmas gifts and not be left asleep at the North Pole while Santa flys off alone (and that this is definitely a bit bothersome as it certainly makes it look like the Sullivans have simply appropriated Krampus' name and a watered down physical depiction of him in and for Goodnight Krampus). Thus and combined with the fact that Goodnight Krampus also and absolutely in my opinion needs to provide a bit of supplemental folkloric information on Krampus (for caregivers, teachers etc. and in particular so since Krampus is primarily a figure of European lore and that many Canadians and Americans might well not know all that much about Krampus and the traditions etc. surrounding him), yes, this does lower my general rating for Goodnight Krampus from five to three stars, although that and as already pointed out above, for the right audience and for they right age group, Goodnight Krampus is delightful and full of joy and magic. (hide spoiler)]

Needs information on Krampus as a Yuletide monster, and Krampus should be accompanying Santa Claus.

MONSTER

Krampus Baby!

(view spoiler)[So yes, despite Elias Barks' (text) and Zoe Persico's (artwork) 2022 board book Krampus Baby featuring goblins, a witch, a Yule Goat, various gnomes, Saint Nicholas, and of course also the Krampus of the book title (with Persico's illustrations of Krampus being generally true to his monster origins, giving him a half-goat appearance, with red pupils, yellow eyes, chains around his waist and devilish horns, but also mostly appearing like a sweet-natured and mischievous small in stature baby or toddler and therefore at least in my humble opinion not really all that potentially visually frightening or creepy), and that both Barks' text and even more so Persico's illustrations provide a fun and nicely Bavarian/Austrian Christmas scenario and background, with ample snow, a typical Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market), a Christmas tree lit not with electric lights but with actual candles and of course also Saint Nicholas' sleigh as well as Yuletide bonfires, Krampus Baby to and for me actually bears almost no resemblance at all to traditional European Alpine folklore in which Krampus functions as the darker and often rather demonic companion to Saint Nicholas, where well-behaved and polite children are given praise and sweetmeats by Saint Nicholas, but that naughty and disrespectful children receive lumps of coal, are beaten with tree twigs by Krampus (and in some stories that are obviously meant to frighten children into behaving are shown as getting kidnapped and devoured by Krampus and taken to hell). And thus, and therefore, a bit more in particular textual contents and thematics authenticity from Elias Barks' pen regarding who Krampus is and what his job as Saint Nicholas' companion means would definitely make Krampus Baby considerably better and as such more to my reading tastes (both for my inner child and even more so for myself as an adult reader, who also really misses with Krampus Baby the inclusion of supplemental details and information on Krampus and on his traditional roles as a Yuletide monster and as the companion and scary rather pagan, heathen foil and counterpart to the Catholic and Orthodox patron saint of children). And while in Krampus Baby! Krampus being shown both verbally and illustratively playing hide-and-seek as he journeys from the hills above town to the market square, jumping down the chimney, giggling when he is discovered in a basket etc. (and with the lift the flap searches for Krampus probably being nicely fun for the intended audience, for young children from about the age of two to four or five), for me, what Elias Barks is textually providing is at best rather uninspiring, rather blah (and also not that Krampus oriented either), and that indeed, the only reason why my rating for Krampus Baby! is still three and not two stars being that both my inner child and equally so my older adult reading self do find Zoe Persico's pictures for Krampus Baby! delightful and wonderfully European, or rather Bavarian, Austrian, Swiss European. (hide spoiler)]

Like the pictures, but the text is uninspiring.

Thanks for a scavenger hunt!

I will see what I can find, but for now, for Pumpkin I think because of the cover, let me (again) highly recommend The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. I found a copy in a Little Free Library the other day and just had to grab it to reread... and was delighted to find it is at least as good as I remember it. I will re-release to a different LFL asap.

I just reread the wonderful Bully by Laura Vaccaro Seeger and will use it for Monster. It's nuanced, but clear, that a bully can be monstrous.

I particularly loved the art. With each act of bullying, the bull grows larger and larger on the page. A reflection of his power? Of his sense of self-esteem? Maybe, or maybe a reflection of his impact on the community of animals. Converse with your child about this. Also ask them what they think happened to the goat and skunk at the end - why didn't they accept the bull's invitation to play?

Also note the word-play. Skunk says "you stink." Bull tells Goat "Butt out." Etc.

MONSTER

I Do Not Eat Children

Loved this, although some parents might freak out at the fact that one by one, children are disappearing until one little girl turns the tables on the monster.

(view spoiler)[Well and yes, my inner child is indeed totally smiling gleefully and appreciatively at I Do Not Eat Children, at the first picture book where Windsor, Ontario based Marcus Cutler acts as both author and illustrator (and which was published in February 2024). But to be certain, she is also sticking her tongue out rather sardonically and derisively at my older adult reading self and how I am kind of freaking out a bit since in I Do Not Eat Children it is being pretty clearly being insinuated and also visually shown by Cutler with a disappearing group of ethnically diverse children (going from ten to one so that I Do Not Eat Children also functions like a counting book, but with children to be counted and not numbers/letters) that the staring orangey, goofy looking monster contrary to its repeated claims of not eating children is in fact consuming them one by one (including a chubby little baby and a wheelchair user, nothing overt, no depictions of blood and gore, to be sure, but the children are definitely going "poof" in some nefarious manner, leaving their bugle, wheelchair, skateboard, soccer ball etc. behind and with the monster also belching rather loudly and ejecting wheels, socks, glasses, a baseball cap, leaving my above mentioned inner child giggling and chortling helplessly, but with this all actually bothering me as an adult just a trifle, albeit both of us majorly do appreciate and find the twist ending of I Do Not Eat Children sweetly amusing, and how the final child turns the tables on the monster, as she does like she says make meals for herself out of liars).

Love, love, love the counting down of aspect I Do Not Eat Children, as well as how the orange creature, how the monster keeps protesting and claiming that it does not eat children (and even turning to the reader/listener and wondering if they are the ones who eat children). And while Marcus Cutler's digitally rendered (on an iPad) illustrations for I Do Not Eat Children do take a bit of getting used to and are also rather one-dimensional and lacking both motion and feeling, they are still nicely colourfully fun, so that yes indeed, especially for my inner child and any potential discomfort from older adult me absolutely notwithstanding, I Do Not Eat Children and the combination of Cutler's text and artwork is solidly and joyfully five stars. But no, no, no, I really and most definitely also do totally consider I Do Not Eat Children as simply engagingly fun and will not ruin potential reading/viewing pleasure by trying to find anything deep or philosophical, although I guess that the ending of I Do Not Eat Children with the one remaining child turning the tables on the monster could be seen as a message against telling falsehoods, but that is probably searching just a bit too much and wanting to turn all picture books into morality lessons (and which in my not so humble opinion is anally retentive and ridiculously silly). (hide spoiler)]

WITCH

Jenny Greenteeth

A witch who needs better dental hygiene!!

(view spoiler)[So perhaps the resolution, perhaps the all-round happy ending for Mary Alice Downie’s 1984 picture book Jenny Greenteeth is or at least could possibly be a bit overly quick and simple, since all it really takes for Jenny Greenteeth to look presentable again and no longer appear as physically abhorrent and as such also frightening to and for The Beaches area children is brushing her slimy green teeth one time with a toothbrush and some toothpaste (and yes, I definitely do adore the very specific Toronto, Ontario, Canada location). However and in my humble opinion, Jenny Greenteeth and the messages encountered and presented by Mary Alice Downie’s text of both not being all that much frightened and turned off by different physical appearances and also though that one can indeed make a better and more inherently positive physical impression on others through simple and basic personal hygiene practices (like adequate dental care) are both important and in my opinion a good childhood lesson, but yes, that like young David does in Jenny Greenteeth with him and without much fanfare and verbal pontification simply handing Jenny the green toothed and slimy looking water witch some toothpaste and a toothbrush, one can and should approach the potentially problematic and fraught with potential misunderstandings topic of not sufficient personal hygiene diplomatically and in a non shaming, non nastily confrontational manner.

Therefore, Jenny Greenteeth is not really a story of a truly physically and internally frightening witch but rather a featured account where water witch Jenny only looks a bit physically off-putting and scary because she has not been adequately physically caring for herself and in particular her teeth, a fun little original tale with a delightful but not too heavy handed message that adequate dental hygiene is both easy and important, perfect in my opinion for introducing this to the so-called picture book crowd and of course especially suitable for young witch-enthusiasts who like reading or hearing about non horrifying and generally positive and friendly witches. And yes, Jenny Greenteeth is indeed a friendly witch, since her generally happy and optimistic nature returns in full force once her newly brushed teeth are gleaming white and she no longer looks green toothed.

And finally, with regard to Barbara Reid’s expressive and full of movement black and white artwork, it really does provide a visually delightful, both expressive and occasionally even quite humorous accompaniment to Mary Alice Downie’s printed words (although personally, I would probably have enjoyed the illustrations for Jenny Greenteeth just a bit more on an aesthetic level if Barbara Reid had rendered them in colour, if her pictures had not been entirely black and white). (hide spoiler)]

MONSTER

Golem

Interesting story, pretty frightening illustrations and an author's note that needs a bibliography in my opinion.

(view spoiler)[So while I definitely do much appreciate both the historical and the religious background of David Wisniewski's Golem (and can in all ways very much understand how and why he won the Caldecott Medal for his expressively intense, colourful, evocative illustrations, for pictures that are bold, immediate, emotion-laden and very much both a mirror to and often even an expansion of the narrative, of the accompanying printed words), I also do not really and cannot really claim that I all that much enjoy Golem as a tale in and of itself (and in fact, it is actually more the visually stunning illustrations than the printed words which I find potentially too frightening and almost too intense in nature, although even with regard to the text, with regard to the author's presented narrative, there are issues and scenarios shown that I find potentially problematic and open to question and debate, and as such not really all that suitable or even approachable for children below the ages of seven or eight, and perhaps even nine or ten).

And as very much an adamant pacifist, David Wisniewski's message (or perhaps rather the culturally traditional message) that violence might well be necessary to combat violence or the threat of violence (via means of the super-strong and supernatural monster-like Golem), while to a point definitely understandable from a historical and realistic point of view (as the Jews of Prague were in peril, were indeed being relentlessly and with brutality and lies persecuted without mercy), this also leaves me personally rather majorly uncomfortable, even though I do in fact appreciate that Rabbi Loew does recognise that what he has created, that what he has called forth has caused, is causing much too much danger and destruction, all important and even necessary points for discussion, analysis and debate, but are these here themes not perhaps somewhat above and beyond the traditional picture book crowd (not to mention that the Golem, that Joseph, after he has served his purpose, is simply destroyed, even though life has become precious to him, a necessary act perhaps, but also sad, infuriating, inherently unfair and unjust in many ways).

But all that having been said, and my issues with the level of textual savagery and the possible over-intensiveness of the accompanying illustrations notwithstanding, I do highly recommend Golem and find especially David Wisniewski's informative supplemental note exceedingly well researched, informative, simply and utterly outstanding (although the hopeless academic in me would most definitely have enjoyed and also kind of missed a bibliography, a list of works cited and suggestions for further reading). And please do note that while I personally tend to think that Golem is not really all that suitable for children below at least the ages of seven or eight, that is simply my own feeling, my own reaction to the text/image combination, and I would NEVER in any way desire to impose this attitude on others (I just know on a personal level that if I had had Golem read to me as a younger child, I would more than likely have had nightmares and a great many potentially uncomfortable questions, such as for example, if the danger faced by the Jews of 16th century Prague was dire enough to call forth the Golem, why was the Golem then not called forth during the Holocaust). (hide spoiler)]

MONSTER

The Golem's Latkes

Fun story, but I wanted a bit of an author's note and also to have Kimmel point out that he obviously based his contents on Johan Wolfgang von Goethe's Der Zauberlehrling (as he should have listed the original German title/author and not just The Sorcerers Apprentice).

(view spoiler)[So indeed, how Eric A. Kimmel textually presents his Hanukkah theme and contents for The Golem's Latkes is really fun, nicely engagingly penned (and with Aaron Jasinski's accompanying artwork for The Golem's Latkes delightfully mirroring and complementing Kimmel's printed words, showing itself as both realistic and at the same time imaginative and with Jasinski's depicted golem also never looking creepy or frightening and finally on the last page of The Golem's Latkes even mischievously smiling just a wee bit and contemplating making Hamantaschen for Purim).

And yes, I truly utterly, I absolutely love love love how the all encompassing surfeit of latkes the golem makes in The Golem's Latkes ends up being shown by Kimmel as representing very much a blessing in disguise and not something inherently negative and that this scenario in fact functions as an instrument for togetherness and tolerance/understanding, as the masses of potato pancakes are used by Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel and his housekeeper Basha for a huge and city-wide Hanukkah feast and celebration (lasting eight days and nights, lasting for the entire period of Hanukkah) for ALL the residents of Prague (including Emperor Rudolf and his court who also supply the applesauce and sour cream for the latkes, and indeed, both the Rabbi and equally the emperor actually do represent historical figures).

But while it is clearly shown with Eric A. Kimmel's text for The Golem's Latkes that it is indeed housekeeper Basha who is to blame, who is responsible for the latkes crowding and overtaking the streets of Prague, since Basha does go visiting, that she leaves the house to go gossiping with a friend after instructing the Rabbi's golem to make latkes and that the latter of course then just keeps on making and making more and more potato pancakes because there is no one present in Rabbi Judah's kitchen to tell the golem when to stop making latkes, and which is of course absolutely essential when dealing with golems (and that Rabbi Judah had also specifically warned his housekeeper regarding this), Kimmel also and very nicely shows in The Golem's Latkes how it is also Basha who simply and astutely says when Rabbi Judah is majorly perplexed regarding what to do with all of the Golem's latkes, with the huge mounds and mounds of potato pancakes, that well, let us eat them, let us have a massive party and latkes feast for everyone (which is probably a bit of wishful thinking, and in particular since the legend of Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel's golem figure actually deals with having to make a golem to protect the Jews of Prague against vehement and dangerous anti Semitism, but for me, The Golem's Latkes is a delightful and wonderfully collective and universally celebratory tale, of everyone in Prague both Jewish and Gentile coming together to celebrate Hanukkah).

Four stars for the combination of Eric A. Kimmel's text and Aaron Jasinski's illustrations, and with The Golem's Latkes also highly and warmly recommended, but lowered to three stars because I personally speaking and from an academic and folkloric point of view do tend to rather find Kimmel's author's note a trifle lacking. For one, since Eric A. Kimmel claims that the contents of The Sorcerer's Apprentice has been one of his chief inspirations for The Golem's Latkes, to and for me, Kimmel should then and most definitely be listing the original German title and that Der Zauberlehrling was penned by Johan Wolfgang von Goethe as a story ballad. And for two, I also think that The Golem's Latkes harkens back to ATU index number 656 The Magic Mill and to tales like the Brothers Grimm's Der süße Brei (the magic porridge pot), Tomie DePaola's Strega Nona and the Norwegian Kvernen som maler på havsens bunn (a pourquoi story about a small but magical mill that continuously grinds salt at the bottom of the sea after being thrown into the ocean) and that this in my opinion absolutely needs to be mentioned by Eric A. Kimmel in his author's note since the concept of someone or something who/that magically keeps cooking, grinding etc. until being told to stop is obviously pretty much universal and that The Golem's Latkes (as well as Goethe's Der Zauberlehrling for that matter) therefore do totally fit in with The Magic Mill type of folktale (and not to mention, that a recipe for potato pancakes, for traditional latkes would also be a nice inclusion in the author's note for The Golem's Latkes, not essential, but definitely something that I for one would welcome). (hide spoiler)]

I grabbed The Scariest Book Ever because of the cover. It fits not only ghost and black cat, but also monster and pumpkin and haunted house. I'm using for Ghost, I think. I can't fairly rate it, but I can say the premise is interesting and some of the art is marvelous.

Disney Parks Presents: The Haunted Mansion works for Haunted House or Ghost. If you like that sort of thing. Lots of busy pictures of different characters and caricatures. No story.

A much better book for both Ghost and Haunted House is Sir Simon: Super Scarer. Several different kinds of funny, and, eventually, heart-warming. Lots of detail but not so much that the story is overlooked. Nuances in the themes, too.

Scaredy Squirrel Prepares for Halloween: A Safety Guide for Scaredies will be my first Bat book. No story, just a lot of information. Some of which is ridiculous. But it's meant to be gently funny, because those of us with anxiety have to be able to laugh at ourselves.

Unfortunately there are no actual bats in the book, just on the cover as part of the costume, so I may find another bat book to read later.

SPIDER



Spider in the Well

Really enjoyed the combination of text and images (love that Spider in the Well tells a story without being didactic). The spider is not the main character but I really like how the spider and the young boy teach the selfish and greedy baker, shopkeeper and doctor an important lesson. A five star book for me!!

(view spoiler)[In Hamilton, Ontario, Canada author and illustrator Jess Hannigan's 2024 picture book Spider in the Well, the main protagonist, a nameless young boy (and who also seems to be the only child present in the town of Bad Göodsburg) is both a so-called jack-of-all-trades and is also kind of acting as an indentured, unpaid servant (maybe even slave), cheerfully (at least at the beginning of Spider in the Well) staffing the newspaper stand, shining shoes, sweeping chimneys and delivering milk. And of course, when in Spider in the Well the local wishing well is shown by Hannigan to suddenly stop working, the townspeople of Bad Göodsburg and in particular the shopkeeper, the doctor and the baker demand that the young boy fix this so that their altruistic wishes (curing all illness for the doctor, world peace/happiness for the shopkeeper and an endless supply bread for everyone for the baker) will be fulfilled, he (moved by how supposedly selfless and for everyone the doctor's, the shopkeeper's and the baker's wants and desires are) immediately heads to the wishing well (to remedy, to fix things) and finds that a spider has made a web there, is living in the well and is also catching and hoarding the coins being deposited there.

But yes indeed, before the spider vacates Bad Göodsburg's wishing well, it also reveals to our young hero that the townspeople’s wishes were in fact not nearly as generous as the boy has been lead to believe (or even in any manner unselfish), that in Spider in the Well instead of medicines to cure everyone, the doctor was wishing for unlimited personal wealth, that the baker was not desiring an unlimited amount of bread to feed humanity but was wanting a personal cure for his baldness and that the shopkeeper, instead of wishing for global peace and harmony, was demanding huge muscles for herself, with Jess Hannigan's narrative for Spider in the Well feeling nicely fable-like (and also a trifle dark), so that the originally sweet-natured and eager-to-help young boy is quickly turned angry and into a seeker of justice after realising and being told by the spider just how much he has been hoodwinked, lied to and as such also emotionally abused by the townspeople, by those for whom he readily sacrificed and tirelessly worked.

And it certainly makes me smile how in Spider in the Well both the spider and the boy get their own back so to speak, with the spider letting the baker, the doctor and the shopkeeper know in no uncertain terms that their dirty little secrets have been exposed and with the boy both making the bakes, the shopkeeper and the doctor do all his usual tasks as payback and also taking the coins meant for the well for himself as compensation, a fun story, with good messages against greed and selfishness (and also with just enough humour to not make Spider in the Well feel overly didactic and annoying).

Now Jess Hannigan's stylised artwork for Spider in the Well blends visual eccentricity with a slight sense of menace, with saturated applications of orange, grey and black dominating and accompanied by rather sickly looking greens and purples, perfect for Halloween and also doing a very good job visually mirroring her featured text, her printed words (and equally vice versa). And while Hannigan's child-like draftsmanship for Spider in the Well makes her human figures look almost like stick people (with a bit of flesh) and that the spider is a wide-eyed, goofy little thing with eight kind of crooked limbs and definitely a bit aesthetically strange, yes, Jess Hannigan's text and images do work very well and expressively together, and that even though Hannigan's illustrations would usually not be all that much to my tastes, well, for Spider in the Well they are absolutely perfect and that therefore my rating for both Jess Hannigan's narrative and for her accompanying pictures are a rare and surprising five stars (and that I also do highly recommend Spider in the Well for both young and old, for both children and adults). (hide spoiler)]

I'll be looking for Spider in the Well, thanks.

Meanwhile, note that the Miscellaneous Club is doing Witches (etc.) this month, and we can get ideas there. I just fell down a rabbit hole and came up with Guess What? by Mem Fox, which I enjoyed on openlibrary.org.

I am giving Enzo's Very Scary Halloween and The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches three stars.

Cheryl wrote: "I'll be looking for Spider in the Well, thanks.

Meanwhile, note that the Miscellaneous Club is doing Witches (etc.) this month, and we can get ideas there. I just fell down a rabbit hole and came ..."

I hope you enjoy Spider in the Well (and can also find a copy).

Cheryl wrote: "A much better book for both Ghost and Haunted House is Sir Simon: Super Scarer. Several different kinds of funny, and, eventually, heart-warming. Lots of detail but not so much that..."

Sounds fun, added tó Mount TBR. Thanks.

Thank you for the great list, Gundula! :-)

Cheryl wrote: "A much better book for both Ghost and Haunted House is Sir Simon: Super Scarer. Several different kinds of funny, and, eventually, heart-warming. Lots of detail but not so much that..."

This is one of our favorites :-) My youngest loves it.

I'm going to try to find a hardcopy of Guess What? at our library. I've enjoyed her work before and this sounds fun!

My youngest and I embarked on the scavenger hunt this week and here is what we've found so far:

Halloween Night!
This is super cute. The rhyme scheme works well. In few words, we get a full picture of the fun times (and a few spooky moments) of a family trick-or-treat night.
For scavenger hunt: Witch, Monster, Black Cat, Pumpkin, Bat & Spider

Guess Who? Boo to You!
I’m always looking out for cute books to give my friend’s one-year-old. Unfortunately, this isn’t a board book and the lift-the-flaps are too flimsy to hold up to a tot’s use, though I do think the “surprise’ at the back (mirror to show your own face) would be a hit with most one and two year olds. The story is simple but cute, the artwork is also cute-not-scary and I think the pre-school set would have fun trying to guess who is behind each trick-or-treat door based on the clues set out in the porch decorating scheme (for example, who lives behind the door with a pointy black hat door knocker, a pumpkin cauldron and a crystal ball in the window? A witch!)
For scavenger hunt: ticks every box ;-)

Zooloween
This one will likely appeal to the young animal lovers. It’s a fun twist on the typical Halloween picture books with a bunch of zoo animals dressing up for a costume parade. Fun and hijinks ensue. (view spoiler)[As an adult, I felt concern for the poor zoo animals with the overwhelmed zookeeper who eventually yells at them for frolicking about (in their rare unfettered freedom) and makes them go back to their cages (they seem so happy to do so, too… sigh) but I can see the appeal for kiddos who aren’t yet puzzling the moral quandaries of zoos. Rhyme scheme is sometimes a bit off-cadence which made me stumble a few times reading aloud. But, it is fun to see the different animals dressing up. “That zebra’s kind and friendly, mostly. But now she’s spooky and quite ghostly!” “Tiger has said goodbye to stripes. He’s now in plaid, and plays bagpipes!” (hide spoiler)]
Scavenger hunt: pumpkins, ghost, black cat, spider

Broom for Two
I got excited when I saw the map on the end papers (those of you who know me, know that I love a good end paper map!) Alas, the story was just so-so for me. Scavenger hunt: Witch, spider

Dragon's Halloween
This is a slightly longer picture book broken up into three small chapters similar to the more advanced “I Can Read” books. My youngest really enjoyed it. I caught him smiling numerous times. It’s really cute and funny. Dragon is so endearing and we loved the clowder of cats that follows him around. It’s been a long time since I read a Dragon book and this one inspired me to check out more while my youngest finds them appealing.
Scavenger hunt: Black cat, pumpkin, monster (well, sort of!)

The Ghost Library
This was a bit of a surprise, a little odd, a little clever…. Ghosts steal (ahem, *borrow*) picture books from children because they don’t have any of their own and take the books back to The Ghost Library during the borrowing period before returning them. But today, young Bo holds on tight to the book she loves and gets transported to the Ghost Library, too. Her indignation soon turns to sympathy for the poor ghosts with their empty shelves and love of books and she set about finding a solution that involves her own imagination and storytelling skills. The illustrations are fun and show off a variety of styles of ghosts.
Scavenger hunt: Ghosts, ghosts and more ghosts! ;-)

The Ghost Who Was Afraid of Everything
This one surprised me. It’s basically a lesson in exposure therapy using a little ghost who is afraid of flying, tree branches and the color orange so can’t go out to trick-or-treat with his family on Halloween. His family loves him for who he is and every year they bring back candy for him, but one year all of his favorite chocolate bats are gone and he is devastated. This also makes him determined to go trick-or-treating next year and he sets out to overcome his fears. (view spoiler)[He touches just the tip of a tree branch for a few moments the first day, and works up to eventually giving the tree a hug and thanking it. He works through other fears, and even a scary set-back, to achieve his goal. (hide spoiler)] The illustrations are not exactly my cup of tea and I was curious if my son would like the book or if it seemed to message-heavy, but when I asked what he thought of it he said it was “pretty good’ which is fairly high praise from an almost-nine-year-old who is not as interested in picture books as he once was. (I will say he has loved this scavenger hunt and points out things that I would have missed in the illustrations! It’s been a lot of fun for us.)
Scavenger hunt: Ghost, Bats, Haunted House

What a fun set! Yes, I added some titles to my to-read lists. And, yes, I love the Dragon books by Dav Pilkey (and others by him, too, for example The Hallo-Wiener!