I Want to be in a Scary Story by Sean Taylor - ADVISABLE

Taylor, Sean I Want to be in a Scary Story, illustrated by Jean Jullien.  PICTURE BOOK.  Candlewick, 2017.  $16.

Little Monster wants to be in a scary story today, so the author puts him in a spooky forest, in a spooky house.  But Little Monster decides that the story is too spooky, so with a few others he turns things around on the author. 

If you are looking for a cute Halloween book guaranteed not to scare your little listeners, then here you have a good one.  While it has witches and ghosts, it goes for a light note.

Pre-K, EL (K-3) – ADVISABLE.  Cindy, Library Teacher

The Beautiful Ones by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia - ADULTS

Moreno-Garcia, Sylvia The Beautiful Ones, 336 pages.  Thomas Dunne Books, 2017.  Language: PG-13 (29 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG (alluded); Violence: G.

For ten years, Valeria has been living the life of a Beautiful One in the sparkling city of Loisail, after she was forced to void her engagement to the love of her life and marry for the sake of her family.  Now she is shepherding her husband’s young cousin through her first season and the girl, Antonina, is just annoying, with her country ways and unsophisticated manners.  When Hector returns to town, however, and pays some attention to Nina, Valerie’s jealousy raises its ugly head and she will do anything she can to destroy anyone else’s happiness.

While this book is set in an imaginary land and contains a little bit of magic, there is very little actual fantasy within the book.  The magic is like an afterthought to make this look like a fantasy.  The story line is fairly predictable, but reads easily, like a beach read.

 

ADULTS – OPTIONAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher

Along the River by Vanina Starkoff - OPTIONAL

Starkoff, Vanina Along the River.  PICTURE BOOK.  Groundwood Books, 2017.  $18.

Staroff evokes the brilliant sights and sounds of a tropical river, where everyone and everything happens aboard the rolling waters.  The illustrations are the best part of this simple picture book.  The text is repetitive without creating a rhythm to draw you in.

Pre-K – OPTIONAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher

Bizzy Bear: Spooky House by Benji Davies - ADVISABLE

Davies, Benji Spooky House (Bizzy Bear).  INTERACTIVE BOARD BOOK.  Nosy Crow (Candlewick), 2017.  $7.

Bizzy Bear is on his way to a haunted house on Halloween.  Creaky stairs and spooky sounds, ghostly figures all await to be discovered.

Bizzy Bear is so dang cute!  Even when he is trying to be spooky.  The artist adds clever unexpected illustrations to the interactive parts, keeping the interest going.

Pre-K – ADVISABLE.  Cindy, Library Teacher

Realm of Mystics by Raelyn Drake - ADVISABLE

Drake, Raelyn Realm of Mystics (Level Up series), 120 pages.  Darby Creek (Lerner), 2017.  $8.  Content: G (some mild danger).

A teenaged girl wakes up.  In front of her is the Game Hunter, introducing her into an immersive virtual reality game, Realm of Mystics.  She doesn’t remember agreeing to any such thing, but she meets her other three companions and they embark on a journey.  Each must face their deepest fear if they want to survive.

Level Up is one of Darby Creek’s new Hi/Lo series.  Darby Creek does these so well.  If you have Hi/Lo students who loves video gaming (who doesn’t), grab this entire series.

MS – ADVISABLE.  Cindy, Library Teacher