Fall Into Monster Mania

By Library Romp - 4:12 PM

That’s right, Halloween’s creeping into April, and it feels like fall around here.  We painted the kitchen red apple orchard, sowed our Gigantic Atlantic Dill pumpkin seeds, loaded Little Reader’s tote with spooky reads, and now brewing up some monsteriffic eats in the kitchen.  Tonight it’s a Frankenstein salad with Piggie Pot Pies, aka KFC’s “I’ll take TWO chicken pot pies.”  Yep, fall is most definitely the favorite season.  And although we look forward to our beach goin, slip-n-slidin, popsicle eatin, swimsuit wearin summer, it’s the 100  + temps and looming hurricane watches we dread. 
  
On A funny
Later that evening sitting at our monster motif dinner table, came a comment from the Peanut Gallery!   My middle nut child, “Ever wondered why the post office logo is like a book?”  Little Reader response, “Duh - it’s how people got books before libraries were born.”  The eldest child response, “This is mom’s doing with her crazy obsession with books.”  I’m not obsessed with books… hey let’s decorate the kitchen with the Little Red Hen or better yet, The Blueberry Pie Elf theme.  We could even expand book themes beyond the kitchen.  Okay, so I’m going to have to work on them on this one. 
See it’s a book!  

Lil’ Monster Reads

Brave Little Monster
By Baker, Ken




Afraid of things that go bump in the night!  One little monster can’t sleep because he’s terrified of the “evil” human children.   What could be more frightening than a little girl eating ice cream in your closet or a little boy coloring under your bed?  Cute, humorous, backwards read, that’s Little Reader approved.

If You’re a Monster and you Know It
By Emberley, Rebecca




Your little monster will love this, "If You're Happy And You Know It" whimsical picture book.   A “wiggle your warts” jamboree for younger readers with great re-read value.  “Can we read it again X 3?” - Little Reader  Mamma’s all monstered out.

Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli
By Hicks, Barbara




Any picky eaters in the house?  Like me, would you turn to a picture book for answers on how to get hem to eat their vegetables?  Stories need not be preachy, but fun, catchy, playful, with a bit of unnatural, or for a better word unusual.  Barbara Hicks does this with tractor eating monsters that refuse to eat their broccoli.    But as the story evolves, they become good little monsters.  A blue book best! 

Monster Goose
By Sierra, Judy




This funny but scary Mother Goose “spoof” keeps resurfacing at the library.  With stories like Mary Has a Little Bat and Werewolf Bo Peep, who wouldn’t want to re-visit these twisted tales over and over?   Probably wont get through all the rhymes in one sitting, we broke them up over a few days. 

Monstersong
By Stein, Mathilde




Mom’s aren’t supposed to invite monsters over for a sleepover, but what’s a boy to do with a mom that welcomes under the bed visitors?  A classic monster under the bed tale, with an ending that will have you cheering for one creeped out little pig.

The Not Too Scary Tales  

Piggie Pie
Palatini, Margie



Gritch the Witch needs eight plump piggies for her piggy pie.   And what a better place to find them than Old MacDonald's Farm.   But these clever piglets quickly disguise themselves to escape their pie demise.  Little Reader loved my scary witch voice and has put in a request for a piggy pot pie dinner.  Agreed, this scary silly read calls for KFC chicken pot pies! 

Skelly & Femur
By Pickering, Jimmy



A little bit of Tim Burton here.  Things begin missing in Skelly’s house, that is until they hear a noise in the attic.  We enjoyed the book all the way up until the end…  “A cheese machine?”  Little Reader I’m also confused by the ending, but at least we got a few skelly and ghostly giggles along the way. 

Creepy Things Are Scaring Me
By Pumphrey, Jerome




Do creepy things come out when the lights go out?  “Not for real monsters, just the ones that come inside our heads.” the Little Reader response. What an answer from such a little girl!  But in this story, one little boy isn’t convinced there’s no such thing as monsters.  A warm playful story reminding us that nighttime shadows are nothing to fear. 

What’s In the P’s?

The Very Ugly Bug
By Pichon, Liz




With its stupendous eye-catching pictures, this was the first read out of the bag.   An unattractive bug goes on a quest to conform, but discovers her uniqueness is her best asset.  A blue book best celebration of ugly!  But in compliance with Little Reader, that “croaks” (roaches) are the most grotesque creatures and we will not celebrate their ugliness.

By Prap, Lila
  
 
 
Daddies





A delightful “daddy” read!  What do hippos, snails, and owls have in common?  They all have Daddies!  A rhyming cuddle time read that had Little Reader interrupting her dad, “Hey you do that to!”

Why?



 

Ever wondered why zebras are black and white or why lions have manes? For inquiring minds, this silly and factual book puts animal misconceptions to rest, fourteen to be exact. You may also want to break this one down into a couple reads.
 
Animals Speak





What do animals say in other languages, is what’s asked in this innovated picture book.  With a look across the globe, how does a pig sound?  The answer and many more can be found as Prap highlights many different species and languages.  Good idea, but would like to hear a story about different animals trying to understand one another.  Yes, I should write this! 
I’ve heard that birds have different dialects or sound pitches indigenous to where they live. Not sure if there’s any validity to this, it’s from the mouth of one of my nut-job university professors, but interesting nonetheless.

Patricia von Pleasantsquirrel
By Proimos, James




An odd story about a princess, Patricia von Pleasantsquirrel on a search for her princessdom.  Don’t let the great name and purple hippos fool you.  How did this disjointed text seriously get on the shelf?

Some of our new and a Blueberry Elf book to.

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