Tag Archives: Halloween

Throw a Halloween Party

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Written by Elizabeth Neuenfeldt

Express!: Party Time! is a six-book series that introduces holidays and their history. Then, gives directions for some simple decorations, foods and activities. Everything has step-by-step directions with illustrations and a list of extra materials over those noted at the beginning of the books. Each project is introduced with some information connecting it to the history of the holiday. There are Table of Contents, Index, Glossary and “To Learn More” section with extra resources. Particularly helpful are the “Top Tips” scattered throughout each book. Color illustrations are engaging and the text is accessible.

Throw a Halloween Party is chock full of ideas and information about the holiday. We learn the ancient beginnings of Halloween and traditions surrounding it. Projects include foods and decorations using materials that are readily available. Those projects that require the use of tools that might be dangerous to kids have safety tips included. This is a fun, easy-to-read book that will enhance your holiday collection. And, really…who doesn’t love a party?

Mr. Pants Trick or Feet!

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Mr Pants TrickThird in the series of Mr. Pants books, Trick or Feet is as funny and entertaining as the other books.

It’s Halloween and all Mr. Pants and his siblings, Foot Foot and Grommy, want is to get lots of candy and play zombie tag. But their plans are ruined when they get stuck in the airport because of bad weather. All is not lost when Mom saves the situation and hilarity ensues.

From an elementary school librarian’s point of view, this is a book series that will be destroyed from overuse – a very good thing.  Children will identify with the antics of the three siblings. For readers who want chapter books (but who may not be ready for the “real thing”) these books will be a good transitional choice.

 

Bottom line: full color, engaging, humorous and worth buying the series for your young readers.

Sidney & Sydney: Book 1 Third Grade Mix-Up

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sidney and sydneyThe start of a new school year and the start of third grade.  What could induce more uncertainty and nervousness?  How about stepping into the classroom on the first day and seeing that your teacher spelled your name wrong.  Should you speak up? Perhaps it’s better to just sit down and not make a fuss about it.  After all the teacher, Mr. Luther,  is known to be grumpy.

Ah, the trials of third grade!  Sydney (spelled with a “y”) meets her gender counterpart (Sidney with an “i”) on that first day.  They soon find out they have a lot more in common than just a same first name.  This is a story of friendship that elementary students will like to read about.  The dialog is very realistic and the characters are well written and believable.  The story line is engaging without being trite or overly predictable.  Jakubowski seems to accurately understands her audience.

The story is heavily illustrated, in full color, by Luisa Montalto. Most of the illustrations are full page, centering on the characters with little to no background distractions. The opening pages give an illustrated bio of the characters and the end pages give further info and insight into the characters.  I can envision many of my students trying to copy Montalto’s clean style and creating a Sydney or Sidney of their own.

Visit Capstone to have students read bios on Sydney and Sidney and there respective friends.  Also there are two downloads: “How funny are you?” and “Are you a good friend?”  Both of these quizzes are the type with no definitive right or wrong answers.  They are the type that sum up your answers with “If you have mostly “A” answers you are….

 

 

Scaredy Squirrel Prepares for Halloween

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Scaredy Squirrel is ready to teach readers about the perils of Halloween and how to avoid them.

As his name implies, Scaredy Squirrel is afraid of many things.  In this book he guides readers in celebrating a non-threatening Halloween.  Tongue-in-cheek tips include: how to make your house look festive with a ghoulish (but not too ghoulish) interior, how to safely carve a jack-o-lantern (always go with a friendly look),  costume choices (with a scare factor rating for each), acquiring candy (always have an inspection before attempting to eat any…do not attempt to eat a toad that is stuck to your candy) and rational excuses for not entering a haunted mansion. Full color drawings riddle the pages making this series fun to read and entertaining.

This is the eighth book in this series and like the others, it generally will not make it back to the shelf before it is checked out again.