Halloween just happens to fall at one of the darkest times of year when it is also beginning to get cold and thoughts turn to warm crackling fires as well as fun and games around them, so what better way to entertain yourself this Halloween than with a selection of great books which can be read in the warm and in the light (if you so desire)!

To begin with we must cater for the youngest children who will be going to bed the soonest and will need a story to send them off happy into dreamland. The best book for this, in my opinion at least, is Mouldy Monsters (Campbell Books, 9780230753954) by AnnaLaura Cantone. This book takes the fear out of monsters, after all some of them are afraid too, and shows that most of them are also very silly! In addition to a funny story there are touch-and-feel elements on every spread - I love the ‘Mello Jello’s’ with their pink tutus and the ’Fuzzy McWuzzies’ with their blue fur, though by far the most popular with children is the green bogies from the ‘Booger Beloogas’!

Then comes the wonderful Debi Gliori who has provided us with just the title for sharing with toddlers. The Scariest Thing of All (Bloomsbury, 9780747599692) from its cover of purple hues and red spiky writing, with the exception of the cute bunny, one gets a sense of mystery before opening up to a bright and colourful meadow of long grass … Lots of larger than life scary things BIG spiders among them, are counterbalanced by a vibrancy and cute factor that is very reassuring. This book is the perfect read for little ones afraid of the dark and just a little scared this Halloween.

If you are story telling to a party of little ones then Elizabeth Baguley and Marion Lindsay’s Ready Steady Ghost (Oxford University Press, 9780192792648) is a good choice with its rhythmical text, swirly ghosts floating across blue pages and a very funny story about a ghost who isn’t actually much good at haunting!

Next come the younger readers who will adore the latest Horrid Henry and not only for its 3D moulded cover allowing curious fingers to prod the torch in awe! If you can believe it Horrid Henry has reached the grand old age of 20, he has a film, a TV series and now a very special book too. Horrid Henry and the Zombie Vampire by Francesca Simon (Orion Children’s Books, 9781842551356) finds Henry up to his usual tricks, scaring everyone, including himself, with some monstrously funny results. Read this one if you dare, for Halloween!

More advanced and older readers will love the second Bansi O’Hara title. Bansi O’Hara and the Edges of Halloween by author and Armadillo reviewer John Dougherty, (Random House, 9780440867920) may have been published back in April but is the perfect read this Halloween for its fast paced and frightening adventure story. Bansi is longing for a quiet life but life has other ideas and this adventure finds Bansi back in Faerie to rescue her mum from the Dead Cruach whilst trying to cope with Granny and Nora Mullarkey. One wonders which will be more difficult! A great adventure with lots of humour, the perfect cheering read for this Halloween.

So get your teeth stuck in to one of these great stories rather then a toffee apple this Halloween and you are guaranteed to have a great time!

Words and Pictures

A blog post from Bridget Carrington

When my children were small, picturebooks (so now you know which I prefer), were just emerging from their thick, yellowish paper with smudgy, stark, limited colours, into the glorious products we know today. Because they’re picturebooks, I think we often regard that element more highly than the words, but three picturebooks I’ve just read show how both parts of the book should interrelate and enhance the other.

I thought the days of overtly moralistic writing had long vanished, until I picked up Diana Mather, Avril Lethbridge and Mary-Ann Mackenzie’s Please Bear’s Birthday (Maverick ISBN 9781848860674). According to the blurb, ‘the series teaches children the importance of good manners through nice and naughty bears’. Oh dear, these adjectives don’t inspire enthusiasm – even KS1 readers would recognise their weak and non-pc nature I think – and neither does the book, despite this being the Daily Mail ‘You Magazine’ Book of the Week. The lengthy rhyming text lumbers along with all the grace and effortless ease of William MacGonagall, while the illustrations do nothing to help, unexciting, humourless and truly reminiscent of picturebooks of the past.

Compare this with two other Maverick publication, Julie Fulton’s Mrs MacCready was ever so Greedy (ISBN 9781848860650), with pictures by Jona Jung, and Giles Paley-Phillips The Fearsome Beastie ISBN9781848860667), illustrated by Gabriele Antonini, and you see what twenty-first century rhyming picturebooks can and really should do.

Fulton’s text is more accomplished than Paley-Phillips’ which falls into the all too common trap of over-inverting and contorting word order so that it scans (and in fact it doesn’t always) and so that the rhyming word ends up at the end of the line. Generally Mrs Macready’s story has a far smoother, natural rhythm and rhyme, and the cautionary tale which emerges – exercise as well as eat, or else the consequences will be dire – is handled in a humorous, non-moralistic way so totally absent from Please Bear. The illustrations are big, bright and funny, and the whole book fits together seamlessly, promising to become a favourite with young readers who like to join in as the text is read to them. In contrast, although clearly a twenty-first century text, Antonini’s style of illustration in The Fearsome Beastie reminds me of a 1950s American cartoon, with children, houses and streets which are more US then UK. The author acknowledges Roald Dahl as an influence, and certainly the poetic style reminds me of Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes, while the illustrator was clearly a fan of Sendak as well as Hanna Barbera.

Sharon Rentta’s A Day with the Animal Doctors (Scholastic ISBN 9781407116440) certainly lives up to its advertising, ‘a hilarious trot round the wards’ it certainly is, as Dr Terence the baby tapir goes to work with his mum. Unlike Please Bear, every page is buzzing with activity, with lots for children (and adults) to find in the pictures, as well as a text which offers information on clipboards drawn onto the pages, and a thoughtful, funny look at why we end up in hospital. This makes a lovely book for bedtime reading, as it invites additional questions from young readers, and can also be ‘read’ without any of the words. How nice that Mum’s the doctor and that the nurses are male and female, and that the elderly animals are being cared for so thoughtfully. My favourite pages are the animal babies in their cots, and the children’s ward, where the patients ‘often need to do a lot of Bouncing’!

Altogether an interesting collection, inviting reflection (can’t stop myself rhyming now, though clearly I’ve not got the hang of scansion either!) on what makes a successful picturebook. It’s not just the pictures, nor yet just the text… there needs to be that special something which knits it all into one highly entertaining whole.

Animal Shinanigans!

Animals are the theme for the Blog this week. As the winter nights draw in and the weather gets worse I have been thinking about my chickens and rabbit, making sure

that they are warm enough and of course well fed! I know that in their won way they would quickly let me know if anything was not quite right! For we all know that animals have their own unique way of communicating with us even if itnot always an immediate success! This state of affairs is accurately depicted with great humour and clarity in Lauren Child's 'Who Wants to be a Poodle'. For years I have been thinking that poodles loved their pampered lifestyle bu

t this opinion was dramatically and comically altered after I read this wonderful story. With Lauren Child's traditional and trademark collage illustration this is a fun filled and hilarious story with vintage style and a modern

story. Trixie Twinkle Toes doesn't want to be the pampered poodle she is, she just wants to be a dog. Can she get her message across and help others understand the importance of just being yourself?

This leads me nicely to Thomas Docherty's 'Big Scary Monster' featuring a rather big and scary monster who loves nothing more than frightening all the little animals with a game of Boo. When the tables are turned and he is on the recieveing end of his own games he quickly realises how unpleasent it can be to pick on those smaller than yourslef. This lovely story gently encourges the reader to realise that being yourslef is as important as not bullying those who just smaller than you are. A bold and exciting story with wonderful illustration this is a very energetic book with an important message.

Picture books are not just about finding yourself and learning to get along with others they are also about learning some interesting facts in an exciting and unusual way. They are about the importance of words and pictures working in harmony with one another. 'Say Hello to the Dinosaurs' from Ian Whybrow is a tactile intorduction to these giant animals that have an enduring fascination to all young children. Through the pages of the book with its gentle rhymes children can learn some rather tounge-twisiting dinosaur names, feel their scaly skin and then take the fun test to see how much they have learnt. Great fun for asults and children alike!

These books will all, in their own way, no doubt find their way onto the booksheleves of many chidlren's bedrooms, make sure they don't just stay there but that they are enjoyed for themselves as much as for the messages they contain and have a week of happy reading!