For a lot of the world monsters, ghosts, witches, and other creepy creatures get their time in the spotlight—or should we say moonlight?—every October. It’s time to break out the spooky (and not-too-spooky) stories for readers of all ages. Happy hauntings!
Ages 4–8
Bad Kitty: Scaredy-Cat. Nick Bruel. 2016. Neal Porter/Roaring Book.
Nick Bruel brings his graphic-novel star Bad Kitty into a picture book in this Halloween-themed ABC book. Bruel weaves in four runs through the alphabet: Kitty’s characteristics before “one dark and foggy night;” her encounters with a variety of costumed trick-or-treaters, which turn her into Scaredy-Cat; the tasty treats she discovers the children have; and recovery of her “true self” when badBad Kitty takes on each of the trick-or-treaters. Bruel’s full-color cartoon-style illustrations evoke all of Bad Kitty’s personality traits and add to the comic element of the story.
The Big Monster Snorey Book. Leigh Hodgkinson. 2016. Nosy Crow/Candlewick.
Monsters make a lot of noise when they sleep! The snoring, grunting, toe-tapping, sleep-talking creatures soundly snooze through this book. Waking up all at once and realizing they are very, very hungry, they go on the search for a little monster to eat. Luckily, Little Monster has been recording all of their sleeping noises. By replaying them at high volume, he scares the big monsters away and gets some sleep of his own. Young readers will enjoy following Little Monster’s plan of action throughout the colorful digitally-designed illustrations in this quirky monster tale.
Boo! Haiku. Deanna Caswell. Ill. Bob Shea. 2016. Abrams Appleseed/Abrams.
With 10 Halloween-themed haikus, Caswell introduces young readers to this poetic form, creating riddle verses that give clues to the identity of various Halloween characters. Readers are encouraged to guess which character is described in each poem before it is revealed with a turn of the page. For example, “an orange porch pal / scooped for pie and roasted seeds / a candlelit grin.” Back matter provides an explanation of the haiku form, including the meaning of haikus, the traditional syllable structure, and a description of how to count syllables in a word. Boo Haiku is a great springboard to creating haiku holiday verses.
Hey, That’s My Monster! Amanda Noll. Ill. Howard McWilliam. 2016. Flashlight.
It turns out that monsters really do live under beds, and they are there for a reason: to make sure kids go to sleep and stay in their beds at night. In this story, big brother Ethan thinks that his little sister, Emma, could use a monster of her own to help her stay in her new toddler bed. But when his monster, Gabe, winds up in her room, Ethan must devise a plan to get Gabe back. After several tries, Ethan finds the perfect under-the-bed monster for Emma. Pencil-drawn, digitally-colored illustrations brighten the pages of this not-too-scary monster story.
Ages 9–11
Fright-lopedia: An Encyclopedia of Everything Scary, Creepy, and Spine-Chilling, From Arachnids to Zombies. Julie Winterbottom. Ill. Stefano Tambellini. 2016. Workman.
This A-to-Z collection of all things scary includes fictional favorites like werewolves and Sasquatch as well as real-life terrors such as killer bees, sharks, and jellyfish! Each two- to six-page encyclopedia-style entry includes factual details and stories along with photographs and drawings and a Fright-Meter, which classifies the entry on a 1–3 scary scale. A “Horrifying How-To” section offers hands-on activities for terrifying friends and family. Other features include a table of contents, call-out boxes, infographics, and even a zombie quiz.
The Mystery of the Haunted Farm. Elys Dolan. 2016. Nosy Crow/Candlewick.
This detailed picture book uses a comic-book format to tell the story of paranormal activity on Farmer Greg’s farm. When Farmer Greg senses something is not quite right, he calls in The Three Pigs Ghost-Hunters, who quickly arrive in their Ghostbuster-style van filled with the latest equipment, including the Scare-o-Meter and the Phantom Finder 5000. But be forewarned: What the Ghost-Hunters find will surprise you! With colorful double-page and panel-style illustrations filled with speech bubbles, this picture book is a good introduction to the graphic novel format as well as a silly, not-too-scary, story for young readers.
Ages 12–14
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Part One and Part Two. J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany, & Jack Thorpe. 2016. Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.
Fans of Rowling’s Harry Potter series will enjoy reading this story of what happened after Harry, Ron, and Hermione grew up, which begins where Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows left off. This script book takes readers back to the world of Hogwarts Academy, where the children of the beloved characters are now enrolled in the famous school for wizards. As Harry’s son Albus and his best friend, Scorpius Malfoy, try to undo parts of Harry’s legacy by travelling back in time, readers will be reminded of what they loved about the Harry Potter fantasy and are likely to find themselves wanting to reread all seven of the books in the series. The huge cast of witches, wizards, Dark Lords, and other magical and supernatural characters and the stage directions, many of which help the reader imagine frightening events, make this good reading (or, better yet, Readers Theatre) fare for the Halloween season.
The Inn Between. Marina Cohen. 2016. Roaring Brook.
When 11-year-old Quinn Martin goes on a road trip with her friend Kara’s family, they stay at a charming little hotel called The Inn Between in the Nevada desert. However, it quickly becomes evident that this is no ordinary hotel, and when Kara’s parents and brother suddenly disappear, Quinn and Kara find themselves caught up in a strange and mysterious adventure. This ghostly story with a setting reminiscent of Stephen King’s The Shining is a scary first foray into the horror genre.
Ages 15+
How to Hang a Witch. Adriana Mather. 2016. Alfred A. Knopf/Random House.
What better setting for a story about modern-day witches than Salem, MA? Sixteen-year-old Samantha Mather has recently moved to Salem to be closer to the hospital where her comatose father is being cared for. However, her arrival has thrown a group of teenage girls known as “The Descendants” into a frenzy of bullying and intimidation. In addition, Samantha is dealing with the presence of the ghost of a teenage boy who lived in her house during the Salem Witch trials, and as if things couldn’t get worse, she may be cursed as well. As late October days tick steadily by, the tension in this YA novel increases to its frightening resolution. (Fun fact: The author, Adriana Mather, is a 12th generation descendent of Cotton Mather, who played a large role in the real-life Salem Witch Trials of the late 1690s.)
Macbeth #killingit. William Shakespeare & Courtney Carbone. 2016. Random House.
Even readers who haven’t read the complete Shakespeare play know the famous chant of the three witches from Macbeth: “Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.” This modern-day adaptation of Macbeth utilizes a texting and screen-capture format to reimagine the classic through a lens familiar to today’s tech-savvy readers. Those familiar with the Bard’s play will smile as Macbeth pins favorites to his “Kinterest” board and utilizes the Notes feature of his iPhone, all the while staying true to the heart of the original plot.
Jennifer W. Shettel is an associate professor at Millersville University of PA where she teaches undergraduate and graduate course in literacy for pre-service and practicing teachers. Prior to joining the faculty at Millersville, she spent 16 years as an elementary classroom teacher and reading specialist in the public schools.
These reviews are submitted by members of the International Literacy Association's Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) and are published weekly on Literacy Daily.