The fall season brings with it a reason to celebrate the natural and aesthetic beauty. It also offers teachers with a myriad of opportunities to celebrate harvest time and the changing foliage with fall-themed stories to engage K-12 readers. With the sheer number of seasonal possibilities, this week’s book reviews from members of the Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group focuses on books that will both celebrate fall, add a little magic, intrigue and just the right amount of ‘spooky’ twists and turns to delight readers.
Grades K-3
Newgarden, Mark & Cash, Megan Montague. (2014). Bow-Wow’s Nightmare Neighbors. New York, NY: Roaring Brook Press/ Neal Porter Book (Macmillan).
In this wordless and visually appealing picture book, readers will meet a golden-haired dog, Bow-Wow and his neighbors (ghost cats). Upon opening this creative book, readers see white tails against an entirely black background. The adjacent page finds the protagonist, Bow-Wow, resting on his soft turquoise pillow. In the middle of the night, he is awakened by an unusual noise. Little does he realize that his neighbors (ghost cats) snuck inside and snatched his bed, leaving him dazed, confused, and visibly upset—one of the cats bit his tail. Determined to find his bed, he runs down the street and enters a haunted house. As he searches for his bed, his journey is curtailed by the mischievous cats. Through a succession of comic style panels and alternating color/black and white hues, illustrators Newgarden & Cash provide an inventive and entertaining picture book for readers.
—Reviewed by Mary Napoli, Penn State Harrisburg
Haas, Jessie. (2014). Bramble and Maggie: Spooky Season. Illus. by Alison Friend. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
In the third offering of Bramble and Maggie, the pair (Bramble the horse and Maggie the girl) explore fall together. The Halloween adventures include meeting scarecrows, creating clever costumes (Maggie as a crow and Bramble as a scarecrow), and enjoying fun treats (candy corn and real corn). This beginner reader is divided into three chapters, “Fall,” “A Fall,” and “Trick or Treat.” With pictures on every page, the book is highly accessible to newer readers but also offers somewhat of a challenge with length and vocabulary. The duo is appealing and the plot is engaging because of the humor and adventure.
—Reviewed by Lesley Colabucci, Millersville University of Pennsylvania
Graves, Keith. (2014). The Monsterator. New York, NY: Roaring Brook Press/Neal Porter Book (Macmillan).
For those who love Halloween and for those who don’t, this interactive picture book has a little bit of “trick” and a lot of “treat.” Master Edgar Dreadbury has lost his taste for Halloween. Bored with the usual makeshift costumes, Edgar ventures out to find something “screamingly scary.” His inner monster nudges him toward an unusual illuminated and inviting storefront. He cautiously enters and notices a machine labeled as the MONSTERATOR which requires a dime to operate. With a laissez faire attitude and a simple “why not,” Edward enters the monsterator. After a loud series of clanks and hisses, he emerges “monsterated.” With a loud roar, he storms through town terrifying everyone and everything in sight. Believing he would be able to reverse his transformation, he returns to the shop, but it has vanished. He becomes content with his monster metamorphosis and finds he is no longer bored. Author/illustrator Keith Graves created a hauntingly funny tale filled with a well-crafted rhyme scheme and creative illustrations. Readers will enjoy searching for 625 monster illustrations and creating their own monster with the moveable page inserts.
—Reviewed by Mary Napoli, Penn State Harrisburg
Brendler, Carol. (2014). Not Very Scary. Illus. by Greg Pizzoli. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux.
This playful cumulative tale also functions as a counting book with lots of alliteration and a surprise ending. Melly the monster is headed to a party at her cousins but on her way notices she is being followed. Readers will wonder with Melly about the characters behind her but the friendliness of the creatures comes through in the illustrations. Grimy goblins and mournful ghosts might sound scary but the muted colors and cartoon style art keep the tone light. A true picture book, the endpapers introduce the monsters and the double-paged spreads keep the pace fast. The party scene at the end includes a pin the drool on the ghoul game and concert by a band called “Gimme Vultures.”
—Reviewed by Lesley Colabucci, Millersville University of Pennsylvania
Holland, Loretta. (2014) Fall Leaves. Illus. by Elly MacKay. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
This book features two young children explore fall from when “birds leave” through “snow falls.” The lush illustrations celebrate the fall changes. The text is written in a poetic style with repetitive wordplay but also contains plenty of content. With consistent formatting, two-word phrases are set on one side of the spread in large font. On the adjacent page, images convey the feeling and information captured in the description. For instance, “leaves fall” discusses kinds of trees and how they fed themselves. The related picture shows leaves falling from trees landing all around and on the children. Carefully chosen colors add to the flow of the story as readers experience the wonders of the season through words and image.
—Reviewed by Lesley Colabucci, Millersville University of Pennsylvania
Grades 4-5
Milford, Kate. (2014). Greenglass House. New York, NY: Clarion.
In this mystery novel, an innkeeper’s son (Milo) and cook’s daughter (Meddy) pair up to solve a string of thefts after five strange guests arrive over the winter holiday. Milo’s character drives the novel as readers will find themselves both empathizing with and admiring him as he turns detective. Milo is adopted and this aspect of his identity plays out in important ways in the story. At one point, he describes being “wildly, indescribably happy, just knowing that someone who hadn’t known anything about his heritage could know something.” The strangeness of the house itself, the folklore of Naspeake, and Meddy and Milo’s use of role-playing as a strategy (he takes on the name of Negret) all add to the adventure in this charming fantasy novel.
—Reviewed by Lesley Colabucci, Millersville University of Pennsylvania
Perkins, Lynne Rae. (2014). Nuts to You. New York, NY: Greenwillow/HarperCollins.
Perfect for reading aloud, Perkins offers a delightful story about three courageous squirrels. When an elderly gray squirrel (Jed) is swept up by a hawk, his friends (Chai and TsTs) rush to his rescue (Luckily, he was dropped and landed safely not far from home). As the squirrel friends adjust to their displacement, they soon realize humans are cutting down their tree. What will they do? How will they adjust to a new environment if they do move? Through well-crafted characters, an engaging plot, and a satisfying pace, readers will root for the squirrels. Perkins offers readers a glimpse of the world from a squirrel’s point of view while weaving themes of friendship, loyalty, and environmental issues. Humorous footnotes and creative illustrations add another layer of enjoyment to this witty adventure.
—Reviewed by Mary Napoli, Penn State Harrisburg
Segel, Jason & Miller, Kristen. (2014). Nightmares! Illus. by Karl Kwasny. New York, NY: Random House.
In this first installment of the Nightmares trilogy, co-authors Segel and Miller provide a suspenseful and imaginative story about Charlie Laird’s conquest to defeat his nightmares. Readers meet 12-year-old Charlie, who is convinced that his stepmother is a witch because of his continuous nightmares of being held captive by a witch. He tries to convince his friends that the witch haunting his dreams is real and discovers a portal. When his younger brother, Jack, is snatched away during the middle of the night, Charlie follows the witch into the Netherworld portal. Will he defeat the nightmares? Will he safely return to his own world? Through a series of cleverly crafted adventurous episodes, this novel presents just the right mix of ‘scary and humorous’ themes to keep readers interested.
—Reviewed by Mary Napoli, Penn State Harrisburg
Grades 6-8
Auxier, Jonathan. (2014). The Night Gardener. New York, NY: Amulet Books.
This novel reads like a fairy tale as two orphans deal with ghosts, nightmares, curses, and a haunted manor. Molly, the 14-year-old older sister, is a gifted storyteller and highly protective of her younger brother, Kip. This is due in part to the loss of their parents but also because of his disability. The sibling relationship, the family history, and the mysterious setting come together when Molly finds a letter from her mom (“To Our Dearest Molly and Darling Kip…”). This sets the plot on edge as the action builds and the two children eventually confront the nightly visitor of the title. Interested readers will be delighted with the author’s note containing information about the Great Famine. The book offers a unique blending of historical fiction and fantasy.
—Reviewed by Lesley Colabucci, Millersville University of Pennsylvania
Barnhill, Kelly. (2014). The Witch’s Boy. New York, NY: Algonquin Young Readers.
Through a mysterious and alluring storyline, middle grade readers will gravitate toward Barnhill's vivid and compelling novel. Imagine living in a small village where everyone you know constantly compares you to your sibling. When Ned's twin brother, Tam, drowns in an unfortunate accident, his mother (who possesses magical powers and is known as “Sister Witch”) is faced with the unthinkable task of healing her son. Sister Witch binds Tam's soul to Ned’s, who as a result, grows up to be socially awkward and is ridiculed by the villagers. Using magic has its consequences and through a series of unexpected twists and turns, Ned is faced with the difficult task of protecting his mother's magic. His initial concern was to “make the magic listen and understand that if his heart wasn't pure, his motivations certainly were.” Ned meets an intriguing set of characters which test his spirit as he struggles through his vulnerabilities. In another section of the forest, there is a young girl (Áine) whose fearlessness and knowledge of the forest makes her a welcome friend. The power of magic contained in the clay pot brings their friendship and this story together. Barnhill’s compelling and heartbreaking fantasy novel features well-developed characters, varied emotions, and an intriguing plot. In one word, her novel is “magical.”
—Reviewed by Mary Napoli, Penn State Harrisburg
Grades 9-12
Carroll, Emily. (2014). Through the Woods. New York, NY: Margaret McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster).
Canadian author/illustrator Emily Carroll offers a spellbinding graphic novel of five tales. Each singular story is disturbing on its own, but together the collection offers a harrowing warning to the reader. Carroll’s illustrations offer various hues, however the bleeding red and white colors are a backdrop against a mysterious shroud of blackness aligned with the overarching theme. In the story, “A Lady’s Hands are Cold,” a young bride discovers the remains of her husband’s deceased former wife. The eerie icy blue hues coupled with the twisted and spiraling of words makes this a hauntingly beautiful tale. While some illustrations might initially disturb viewers, the overall collection marks a visual masterpiece for graphic novel aficionados and those who dare to walk through Carroll’s “woods.”
—Reviewed by Mary Napoli, Penn State Harrisburg
Heppermann, Christine. (2014). Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty. New York, NY: Greenwillow/HarperCollins.
Wake up girls! Don’t let the “happily ever after messages” in your mirror disenchant you any longer. This collection of 50 poems features everyday struggles and issues (i.e. weight, beauty, anorexia, sexual agency) facing adolescents against the classic fairy tale trope. The poems reach an emotional layer of depth to spark dialogue about how peer pressure, identify, and self-awareness is affected by the mirage of beauty myths. Heppermann’s dark, provocative, and clever witty lines twist and mash the core of societal pressures and how girls’ receipt of such messages, whether implicit or direct, inform their relationship with self, their bodies, and others. Each poem evokes a raw voice that transports through a fairy tale character. The collection will undoubtedly appeal to readers’ sense of self-examination but also empower them to challenge the inequalities around them. Black and white photographs contributed by talented artists also capture the mood of this collection. Secondary teachers can include this collection within a critical exploration of fairy tales and invite students to reinterpret and add their own verse.
—Reviewed by Mary Napoli, Penn State Harrisburg
These reviews are submitted by members of the International Reading Association's Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) and are published weekly on Reading Today Online.