library books | There's a Book for That

We did our weekly trip to the library and came back home with piles of books as usual. Everyone is sick and wanting to be entertained so we pulled the blinds, turned on a little reading light and settled in with some scary books. All we needed was a tiny light in a dark room, a whisper voice used here and there, some well written suspense and dramatic illustrations and things got scary fast!

Neil Gaiman and illustrator Dave McKean teamed up again (they also brought us Coraline) to create this dramatic, quirky and quite scary tale. Lucy heard noises . . . coming from inside the walls . . . and is sure there are wolves.

By the end of the book – some things change – Who lives where? Who scares who? Who is living in the walls now? It is quite the adventure to find out.

Eve Bunting takes us on a “catch your breath, feel your heart beat faster” journey through the pages of The Banshee (spookily illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Emily Arnold McCully). What makes the “Scree Scree” sound that wakes Terry in the middle of the night? Does he really have to go out into the garden to find out?

“I open the back door. The kitchen heat rushes out, and the night rushes in. I can’t go into that dark yard. Where she is. I can’t. I go.”

These two books allow us to explore some big questions in the minds of young readers:

What is it to be brave?

What is superstition? legend? folklore?

Do we believe what people tell us?

How do we confront our fears?

And the scariest one . . . “Is there really a . . . ?”

I went to the library and what did I find? Some “new to me books”! Exactly why public libraries are such lovely places. You can walk in empty handed and walk out with a bag bursting full of undiscovered treasures. For free! At least that’s what happens to me.

Some books I found today that I have to share – first here and then this week, in the classroom! Excited at the possibilities . . . These will need to be more than book talks – all are simple and quick to read – but like a lovely sweet treat – something to savour for some time afterwards . . .

In Leaf by Stephen Michael King, a little boy escapes his Mom’s intentions to give his hair a trim. While hiding out with his his adorable little dog, a bird drops a seed on his head. A shoot pops up and grows a leaf. Now he needs to carefully tend to this living thing on top of his head. Simple, sweet, endearing. The best thing about this book? It is nearly wordless – the only text – sound effects – Whooosh, Boing, Sploosh, Glurg glurg . . .

Kathryn Otoshi has created a wonderful book called Zero all about finding value in yourself. I can see this book fitting in wonderfully with extension lessons with the Mindup curriculum where we explore looking at things from a different perspective. Is Zero empty inside? Or is she open and full of possibilities?

“This book is pretty funny,” announces my son. And it is but also a little bit more . . . Penguin by Polly Dunbar lets us look at a child’s frustration when he can’t communicate in the way he wants to with a new friend. And my, my, the things we tend to do as we get frustrated!

Happy Reading!