Tuesday Storytime: Halloween is Coming

One week til Halloween, and because of the shared schedule, it's the first time in about 10 years that I will NOT be doing a storytime on Halloween. So I did some really cute Halloween prep books this week instead.

And Then Comes Halloween
Tom Brenner, illustrated by Holly Meade
ISBN: 9780763636593
This is an excellent Halloween book. It has a lot of atmospheric fall details, and lots of focus on the seasons changing and on very generic fall decorating with corn stalks and scarecrows, and only really gets into the Halloween-specific stuff right at the end. The focus is also on the creative process of thinking up and creating your own costume, and on the community fun of trick-or-treating in a group and sorting and swapping candy together. Very lighthearted and informative, with really lovely language.

Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin
Tad Hills
ISBN: 9780375858130 (board book)
I was lucky that this was a very small group, because this is a pretty small board book format. Duck and Goose and Thistle appear in this really short story, and I ask for a lot of audience interaction to drag it out a bit longer. Thistle has a very nice pumpkin, and Duck and Goose decide they want one too, so they go in search of it, with not much luck until Thistle reappears with a hint.

Happy Halloween, Biscuit!
Alyssa Satin Capucilli, illustrated by Pat Schories
ISBN: 9780694012206 (page-end-flaps)
Biscuit and his little girl are prepping for Halloween, which means the little girl is prepping, and Biscuit is getting into messes and generally being an adorable pest, revealed by the flaps on each of the far left side pages.  Sweet and gentle and with cute little "mysteries" to solve or questions to ponder on each spread.

Tuesday Storytime: Summer Daze

It's that lovely time between Summer Reading and fall, so it's almost like a second summer, where we aren't restricted to the summer reading theme. So that means lots of fun summery books.

Maisy Goes on Vacation
Lucy Cousins
ISBN: 9780763647520
Maisy the mouse goes on vacation to the beach, with the anticipation, packing, travel (a train ride in this case), and hotel stay all preceding a trip to the beach with friends.

Summer Days and Nights
Wong Herbert Yee
ISBN: 9780805090789
A tiny book that packs a great big nostalgic punch. Fuzzy grainy paintings appear summer-hazy as we follow a girl through a green and gold summer day into a warm cozy summer night of fireflies and late bedtimes. Very sweet and really attractive.

And Then Comes Summer
Tom Brenner, illustrated by Jaime Kim
ISBN: 9780763660710
This book is a straight-up When This Happens / Then This Happens, all on a summery theme. Very anticipatory, and lots of fun, as we follow through a set of summer activities (stereotypical or iconic, depending on how much you like summer rituals). We get fishing, parades, ice-cream trucks and camping, and more. Cute and vivacious.