Tuesday Storytime: Monstrous families

I also had Amanda Noll and Howard McWilliam's fantastic I Need My Monster cued up, but the crowd was predominantly littles, so it would have been too long. Highly recommended. 

I Am A Witch's Cat

Harriet Muncaster

ISBN: 9780062229144

Looooooove this book so much. The miniatures/dollhouse/collage illustrations are fantastic, the story is cute, and the premise is perfectly executed. Really excellent.

Go Away, Big Green Monster!

Ed Emberley

ISBN: 9780316236539

Classic cut-out reveal book. Simple, no nonsense, super fast, super fun for the kids to see how the monster grows and disappears. 

Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters a lullabye

Jane Yolen, illustrated by Kelly Murphy

ISBN: 9780763642013

Slow and very sedate, but a welcome change in tone from most upbeat or quirky halloween/monster books. This one is sweet and gentle, and ramps down smoothly from the end of a school day to the nearly endless rituals of bedtime. Sweet.

Tuesday Storytime: Creeping towards Halloween!

This storytime was also done (last minute I might add) by my co-worker.

10 Trick-or-Treaters
Janet Schulman, illustrated by Linda Davick
ISBN: 9780385736145
Small format book is just the right balance of creepy and anticipatory, with bright colors and cheerful thrills as we count down the numbers from a fun night out through to bedtime.

Minerva Louise at Halloween
Janet Morgan Stoeke
ISBN: 9780525421498
Minerva Louise is everyone's favorite slightly addled chicken, and this time around she's bringing her Amelia-Bedelia observations to Halloween night. Cute and sweet and extremely light-hearted.

Little Blue Truck's Halloween (lift-the-flap board book)
Alice Schertle, Jill McElmurry
ISBN: 9780544772533
The character of the Little Blue Truck is cute in his own right, with a series of short stories that are all adorable, but this lift the flap book brings the character and the whimsical Dick-and-Jane illustrations over for trick-or-treating, and it's a great fun little short trip.

Tuesday Storytime: Super-Animals!

These were picked out by my co-worker, they're super cute, and a fun way to highlight the general superhero craze!

Super Duck
Jez Alborough
ISBN: 9781933605890

Super Duck vs The Kite. I think the kite wins. Bonus points for very long-suffering friends who still manage to enforce boundaries on their super (excitable) friend.


What Goes Up
Paula Bowles
ISBN: 9781589251199
Martin is a big-boned dragon with very tiny wings, which means that he hasn't managed to fly yet. This makes him very sad, but the village children are on-board with all of his silly schemes to get him up in the air, and even add a stealth exercise regime of their own. When Martin finally goes airborne, it's surprisingly touching.


Arnold the Brave
Gundi Herget, illustrated by Nicolai Renger
ISBN: 9781441326508
Arnold is a Super Sheep, and he's ready and willing to defend his flock against the Big Bad Wolf, but even a Super Sheep needs a little sneaky help from a good friend. The spirit is willing, and gravity provides a big assist for this spunky sheep with a brave heart.

 

Tuesday Storytime: October is here! Spooky Storytimes FTW

Halloween time is here again! My favorite holiday of the year, with my favorite month of fun storytimes about monsters and witches and good Halloween fun.

This week we're seeing monsters in three different fun environments.

Monster Chefs
Brian and Liam Anderson
ISBN: 9781596438088
Four monster chefs are caught off-guard by the monster king's demand for something different to eat besides eyeballs and ketchup, and three of them fail miserably, but the fourth finds a pastry chef, and starts a monster culinary revolution!

Boo-La-La Witch Spa
Samantha Berger, illustrated by Isabel Roxas
ISBN: 9780803738867
Cute walkthru of spas and their services and experiences, all with a witchy gloss. Skipped some sections because we have very small attendees this time, but it's spread-based so it's easy to skip past bits at leisure.

Monsters Love School
Mike Austin
ISBN: 9780062286185
The first day of school is fun for all, even little monsters!