Guest Writer, SADIE H., age 8

This is a story written by my third grade friend and neighbor , Sadie H.

The Creepy Eyeball

Characters: Sadie, aka “Starlight”

Rae, aka “Moon”

Once there was Moon and Starlight. Strarlight drew an all-seeing eye on Moon’s whiteboard. They didn’t know that it would come to life. One day, they were looking at the whiteboard, and the eye was no longer there. They looked all over Moon’s house for the eyeball, and finally after much searching, they found the eyeball in Moon’s closet. THE EYEBALL WAS ALIVE!

The eyeball had become two feet from upper lid to bottom lid and three feet across from corner to corner. Moon wondered how it had traveled from the whiteboard to the closet. It had no legs. Starlight pointed out that it had probably rolled. They set up a video camera to see where it moved next. On the camera, they saw it go under Moon’s king-sized bed, so they knelt down and looked under the bed. It was gone!

Starlight said to Moon, “Where did it go?” Moon said, I don’t know–beats me!” Finally, they went to the kitchen and turned on the oven to make their lunch. It was then they saw the eyeball cooking in the oven! They decided to leave the eyeball in the oven to die.

Stay tuned to the next chapter…

THE END

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, AND HAPPY READING

SADIE

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SATURDAY MORNINGS FOR KIDS: Readathon Edition

Today’s Readathon included reading a kids’ selection for my usual Saturday Mornings for Kids.

This is a book I have looked forward to featuring in October.

Vlad is not your “normal” Vampire. His family lives in a haunted mansion on a hill, they drink ordered blood for breakfast, and all can turn into bats and fly–except Vlad. Vlad is scared of humans (instilled in him by his grandfather’s tales), exposure to the sun (which his dad insists will burn his skin) and most of all, scared of never having a friend. Until one day, Vlad ventures into town and inadvertently finds himself in the human kids’ school. Assuming he is one of the recent refugees come to town, his teacher and the other kids acquaint him with the tips and tricks of attending school. Vlad is pleasantly surprised and makes one good friend who is very curious about his “background.” What Vlad does and what his friend does when the fact that he is a vampire is revealed make for a humorous, fun read. Read this one to your six-year-olds or have your eight-year-olds read it to you!

SATURDAY MORNINGS FOR KIDS

THANKS, CARLA, FOR THE COOL MEME.

I did not read any children’s books this past two weeks, so here is,

I need to get on the ball and read more kids’ books.

I ordered this book, and it arrived in time for me to send to my great-grand niece for Halloween. She is four, a bit too young to read it herself, but I am sure her parents will read it to her.

tAdorable illustrations throughout

According to the back cover,” Misery Manor is home to the Impalers–the bravest vampire family that ever lived. Except for Vlad–he’s not brave at all. He’s even a bit scared of the dark!” Vlad decides he needs some friends and decides he can find them at school, so off he goes, with his pet bat tagging along. His misadventures provide hilarious moments, and I can’t wait to start this promising book.

I promise to get to bed early tonight, something I did NOT do last night, which caused me to sleep in and not write Saturday Mornings for Kids until four o’clock Saturday afternoon!

Thanks Evin.

SATURDAY MORNINGS FOR KIDS

Just as Saturday mornings TV broadcasting used to focus on kids, this blog does the same, recommending books for kids, their parents and grandparents, their teachers, and those who read to them.

Today’s delightful book is

A funny book with excellent life lessons

The narrator, a young boy thinks Mrs. McWee, who lives down the hall in his apartment building, is a witch. But, he’s “not so sure.” He thinks she has ESP, but “he’s not so sure.” He thinks many things and uses scant evidence to back up what he thinks, but his mom has a logical explanation for it all.

Halloween comes, and the boy goes trick-or-treating at Mrs. Mc Wee’s to find something he is sure of. You’ll never guess what it is!

Schwartz, the illustrator, uses black and white drawings spiked with Halloween orange to provide a treat for young and old alike. Enough repetition and rhythm are built in to help the youngest readers read along. It’s fun for all any time of the year.

JUST IN TIME FOR HALLOWEEN

The Thirteen Days of Halloween published by Scholastic is a counting book closely patterned on “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” and is the perfect grandchild-gift for a little one.  The illustrations parody Tim Burton, and, as in “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” repetition is built in.  By the time parent or grandparent and child have read the book a few times, the child will be able to count to 13! The little witchy-demon (good demon) girl has large, innocent eyes as she leads her various ghouls like werewolves and vampires and witches through their madcap, fun march through the gloriously colored pages and reaches the final countdown to Halloween night when all the goblins and beasties come out to play. It can be ordered through Scholastic or through the title at Barnes and Noble or from Amazon.

A second offering for any season is classic children’s author Eva Ibbetson’s Which Witch, a chapter book, guaranteed to make children and adults alike laugh out loud (or at least chuckle). It is a worthy book, although not as well known as Ibbotson’s The Secret of Platform 13.

In this story, Arriman Podcaster, an unusual baby who grew up to become a famous Wizard, is waiting for his replacement so that he can retire. Harrington Hall, his magnificent, totally creepy manor house is guarded by the Wizard Watcher ( a four legged creature who talks, has a tail, and vaguely resembles a sea lion–a big one).  The Watcher is watching for the New Wizard predicted by the gypsy  fortuneteller to “come down the road.”

When this fails to happen, Arriman decides to marry and produce an heir to take his place.  He instigates a Miss America style pageant of witches, offering himself and his great Hall to the winner.  An abundance of witches is found in the area, complete with warts and weird animal familiars as well as Belladonna who is (horrors!) a white witch.  She speaks with animals, heals wounds by magic (or white witchcraft) and produces bunny rabbits and begonias instead of frogs, lizards, and other slimy things with her spells.

The book is wickedly humorous (pun intended)!

It is predictable enough to feel comfortable, but has enough twists and turns to keep the reader reading right up until the very end.