This book is set to the words of the famous “Monster Mash” song, but with illustrations that your child will love. I don’t know if you’ll be able to just read the book though, you may end up singing it to your child instead. Lots of Halloween fun is wrapped up in this book. Enjoy!
A little mouse is looking forward to all the fun things that come with fall…Halloween costumes, jumping in the leaves and pumpkin patches. His mom reminds him of all of the things that he needs to enjoy about summer first…walking barefoot in the grass, lemonade, fireflies and and trips to the beach.
An adorable counting and rhyming book that is the perfect match for the Halloween season.
Over in the hollow,
where the bats dip and dive,
lives a furry grandma bat
and her little batties five.
Flap! squeaks the grandma.
We flap! squeak the five.
So they flap
and they flutter
where the bats
dip and dive.
Kids are fascinated by the fact that animals hibernate. This book follows animals and insects through the forest as one animal reminds the next that winter is on its way. All of the animals want to stay awake just a little bit longer, but as each one smells, sees, tastes or feels something that reminds them that winter is right around the corner, they find a place to snuggle up and bed down for the winter.
On a side note, I can’t believe that this is the first book by Denise Fleming that has made it onto MommaReads. I love, love, love the artwork in her books and this one is beautifully done as well.
Did you ever wonder where the saying that cats have nine lives comes from? Apparently it is an old Irish legend and the legend comes to life in this sweet story about a witch who really wants to be a cat. Her cousins try and save her from turning into a cat permanently, but later realize that maybe they’ve made a mistake. There is a summary in the back that explains the legend of the nine lives, too.
Children are fascinated by the fact that some animals go to sleep for the WHOLE winter. I liked this book because it not only mentions bears, but many other animals that hibernate that we may not think about. I love that this story rhymes and I think many children will also identify with some of these animals who are having a hard time going to sleep because it’s too dark or because they need a snack or a drink before they fall asleep.
The scarecrow dad goes to work in the cornfields all day and then comes home at night and teaches his scarecrow son how to make scary faces to scare the crows away. The little scarecrow boy has been warned by his father that he shouldn’t go out into the cornfields by himself because he is not fierce enough. He has to wait until he has grown. One morning the scarecrow boy gets up early, sneaks out of his house and goes into the cornfields alone. He tries all of his super scary faces, but quickly realizes he may not be ready for this job quite yet.
Flora has about had it with her little brother, Crispin. Their mom sends them outside to play on a very windy day and Flora’s little brother ends up getting swept up in the wind. Flora takes off her super heavy boots so that she too can be swept up in the wind and rescue her little brother. On their adventure they bump into a dragonfly, a sparrow, a rainbow, a cloud, an eagle and the moon. All of them want Crispin to stay with them and help them, but Flora knows it’s her duty as the big sister to get him home safe and sound.
I also love, love, love the watercolors used for the illustrations in this book. They are so beautiful and really capture the feeling of the fall leaves and the blowing wind.
Duck and Duck decide it’s time to head south for the winter and they want Moose to come, too, but he thinks it’s a horrible idea and is going to stay right where he is and have pancakes with Bear. He quickly realizes that Bear is going to be asleep for the next few months and the adventure begins. Duck, Duck and Moose have several adventures while they’re away and it turns out that Moose is the one who is sad when it’s time to finally go home. Moose figures out a way to bring a little bit of Florida back home with them though. Super cute and a good one to read as fall sets in and you start to see birds heading south.
I love Karma Wilson and I especially love all of her Bear stories. This one is no exception. Bear is not feeling well, so his friends do everything they can to help him feel better. They get him some herbs, they make some tea, they sing him lullabies…and it works. Bear wakes from his nap feeling great, but then his friends start not feeling well and it’s Bear’s turn to help out his friends.
