EeeEeeEeeK!!!!!

It's 2013. It's October. I'll be honest, I have this weird aversion to prime numbers that are larger than 12 and less than 20 (okay, I realize there are only 3 of them, but they are nails on a chalkboard spooky nonetheless) All year long when I've seen 2013 in print I cringe a little and I'm sure the same thing will happen in 2017 and 2019. However, the one consolation with this year that I won't get during the other two is the macabre magic that can be found in the number 13. Finally it is October and for one blissful month that horrible 13 hanging off the end of the date doesn't seem as out of place. (I know, pack me off to the looney bin after this post- now my husband isn't the only one who knows about this strange quirk of mine... don't even get me started on my need to pause in my reading only on pages that are a multiple of 5 or how excited I get when chapters begin on a multiple of 25, Oh happy day!!!!)

Now that I've lost all of the boring readers who consider themselves sane I'll get to the goods...

We must have checked out at least 50 Halloween-type books this year. I didn't count, but I know how many books we've had checked out from the library and considering how many books I have checked out for myself and how many audiobooks I have checked out for my husband AND how many we had to buy from the library because of that time that my son was a two year-old it's been pretty ridiculous. 

In an effort to showcase more than just my faves I asked each family member what their pick would be. This was difficult, each of them wanted to pick several. I tried not to influence their decisions (too much). Whether I liked it or not here are our favorites for this Halloween year:

 Sarah: I chose Over in the Hollow by Rebecca Dickinson, illustrated by S. Britt. 

I am not usually a fan of counting books (or alphabet books, for that matter), but this one is tricky, you almost don't realize you're counting since the rhyme 

(modeled after "Over in the Meadow" by Olive A. Wadsworth) 

is so fun to read and the pictures are so retro-gorgeous. This might be a bit long for some readers/families but my 3 year-old never had a problem sitting through this one 

and the older kids loved it too.

 

Abby: picked Humbug Witch by Lorna Balian
but since I highlighted that one last year I made her pick again.
She chose Frankenstein: A Monstrous Parody 
by Ludworst Bemonster (Rick Walton & Nathan Hale)
This was not my favorite of parodies (fun but not phenomenal)
but since Abby is fairly new to the genre she was enchanted.
Her enjoyment was much enhanced by the fact that we happen to own  
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmens so
she was able to compare the books page by page which she did ad nauseam
to anyone who would listen.
Her favorite part was that instead of making their beds and brushing their teeth
the monsters wet their beds and pull out their teeth.

 

Ginny: chose Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Peter Brown.

Ginny is pretty easy. Whichever book we have just read is her favorite, especially if it's funny.

This one was also a favorite of Tag's 

but Big Green Monster just edged it out as his favorite.

Jasper Rabbit loves to eat carrots until they start following him... or do they? 

Whenever he feels their awful presence and turns to look he only finds orange items lying there.

All the same he still finds that he's lost his appetite for carrots...

which may have been their evil plan all along.

Can I just say, I LOVE this concept. 

Hilarious.

I mean, just look at the cover. The "creepy" rendering of those carrots is truly masterful.

Tag: Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley. This is one that we've checked out every year since the year we were introduced to it at Library Time.

The girls liked it and thought it was clever but never latched onto it quite like Tag has.

I now have it memorized.

Luckily it's not very long and watching the green monster's gradual formation 

followed by his gradual disappearance DOES bring out the inner child.

Finn: Okay, if I'm being honest, Finn loves to be read too but hasn't quite caught 

the Halloween fever that's been sweeping through our household. 

This is largely due to the fact that I don't like to read non-board books to him since currently 

his favorite part of reading is turning the pages himself. 

So.... this was just me giving myself a chance to choose a second book. 

Tricky, I know.

Did I mention he loves piggies... well, who doesn't, really?

Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini, illustrated by Howard Fine is right up my alley.

Gritch (the witch) is craving piggie pie but first she has to get some piggies. 

She visits Old MacDonald's farm but those piggies are just too tricky for her. 

I love the references to other tales/rhymes

(my girls particularly enjoyed the nod to "The Wizard of Oz" since we just watched it) 

and from beginning to end this book is full of fun!

If you are wondering why my husband didn't pick a book, well... what can I say? He does his fair share of reading to the kids (BELIEVE ME) but he is sadly ambivalent towards them (the books, not the kids). His strongest feelings are towards the books that are requested too often or are a bit on the longer side- and those feelings aren't particularly good ones. So, as I continue (fingers crossed) to share our favorite books you can continue to expect my husband to abstain from all the sharing.

Oh, and by the way, I found my post of Halloween books from last year that I never published. I read it over and it seemed finished so I left it as it was and published it... if you're interested in what we read for Halloween last year click here. HAPPY HALLOWEEN READING!!! 

**** Has anyone noticed how early in the month it is? Yeah, we've had Halloween books in the house for two weeks now AND we had some checked out last March when my girls were obsessed with banshees during our March-Ireland-St.Patrick's Day-Craze, SO THERE. I'm not exactly sure why I'm feeling defensive about this.****