Children's Books discussion

Here is the place to discuss those picture books about witches and monsters not chosen for our October 2011 club reads.

Witches:
Cake Girl
Winnie the Witch
Hoodwinked
A Woggle of Witches
One Witch (also features monsters)
Alice and Greta
Only a Witch Can Fly
A Very Brave Witch
Room on the Broom

Monsters:
Boris and Bella
I Need My Monster
Leonardo, the Terrible Monster
Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich
Sally and the Some-Thing
There's a Nightmare in My Closet
When a Monster Is Born

Some monstrous monster ideas:


If You're A Monster And You Know It

Goodnight, Little Monster

Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli

Too Many Monsters

Mommy?

Where the Wild Things Are

Do Not Build a Frankenstein!

Hush, Baby Ghostling

Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody

The Sea Serpent and Me

Here are a couple Witch book nominations, in addition to the great ones already made:

Guess What by Mem Fox
Heckedy Peg by Audrey Wood

How 'bout...

Frank Was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance by Keith Graves
One Monster After Another by Mercer Mayer
The Troll With No Heart in His Body and other Tales of Trolls, from Norway by Lise Lunge-Larsen
Monsters in My Mailbox by Ellen Jackson
Good Babies: A Tale of Trolls, Humans, a Witch and a Switch by Tim Myers

Witch ideas:

The Cold Water Witch

Candy Witch

Big Pumpkin

Dorrie and the Haunted Schoolhouse

Thanks for the great nominations! I see several books I'm eager to read ;-)

It's now time to VOTE so please do so now if you plan to participate with our club read in October. Votes accepted through September 15th. Thanks!

I really like Heckedy Peg

My list of votes,

Heckedy Peg

Cake Girl

Big Pumpkin

Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich

Where the Wild Things Are

My votes:

A Woggle of Witches
Dorrie and the Haunted Schoolhouse
Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters
Big Pumpkin
Boris and Bella

Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters
Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody
Big Pumpkin
Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich
I Need My Monster

I would like to vote for the following (only 7 were available at my library, so the choice wasn't too hard!):

Cake Girl
When a Monster Is Born
Leonardo, the Terrible Monster
What's in the Witch's Kitchen?
Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters

Thanks!

Wow these are some great suggestions! I love witch/monster/Halloween children's books!

Here are my five picks (in rough order of excitement):

Heckedy Peg
Big Pumpkin
Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich
Cake Girl
Creepy Monsters Sleepy Monsters

My votes for this month:

Leonardo, the Terrible Monster

Winnie the Witch

Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters

A Very Brave Witch

There's a Nightmare in My Closet

I'm brand new to this group, but would like to mention a book my children loved when they were younger - "A Very Scary Pumpkin"

Cheryl wrote: "I'm brand new to this group, but would like to mention a book my children loved when they were younger - "A Very Scary Pumpkin""

Welcome to the group, Cheryl! :-)

I think this would be a perfect post for our "Halloween" thread over in the Seasonal/Holiday Reads folder:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/3...

I'd add:
"Miss Fiona's Stupendous Pumpkins Pies" to the list.
Witches that can cook! (But I wouldn't follow her recipe....)

Thanks Kathryn.

The votes are in! Please join us in October when we will discuss:


Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters
Heckedy Peg
Big Pumpkin
Cake Girl
Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich

There were five clear winners so I wanted to mention the two runners-up as one is a monster book and the other a witches one and you can choose your "witchy-y" or "monstrous" preference ;-)
A Woggle of Witches
Leonardo, the Terrible Monster

I am going right away to reserve, have a feeling some will have holds already.

Crystal wrote: "I am going right away to reserve, have a feeling some will have holds already."

That's a good idea. Even though I don't think most of these are specifically Halloween titles, they will definitely be popular this time of year.

I've already read all of them, with the exception of Big Pumpkin (which my library has) and Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters (which it doesn't--bummer!) but a few I liked so much, I'll check them out again to reread with the group! ;-)

Kathryn wrote: "Crystal wrote: "I am going right away to reserve, have a feeling some will have holds already."

That's a good idea. Even though I don't think most of these are specifically Halloween titles, they ..."

I won't be able to read "Creepy Monsters" as well, it's on order at the library, and I doubt that it will get there soon enough for the group read. The library also does not have "A Woggle of Witches" so I think I will be reading about Leonardo instead (all the other ones I have just made requests for, like Crystal, I don't want to wait too long, Halloween and monster books tend to be popular).

Only Creepy Monsters has one hold in front of me, the rest were available. Hope they get it at your library before too long. Glad to hear you have read most of the selections. I have Cake Girl at home. Can't wait for next month. I hope to have more free time to participate. I have yet to this month, but do have a couple of the selections to read this weekend.

I didn't participate in the nominations but I've read all but two of the books: Big Pumpkin, which I have on reserve from a sister library, and Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters, which my library doesn't have and because it's a new/2011 book, I can't get it from our sister library program. Too bad because it looks really good. I did add it to my to-read shelf.

Thanks Kathryn and All!

Lisa wrote: "Thanks Kathryn and All! "

Always a pleasure! I'm especially excited about this month and am already planning to add some of the books from our fabulous "Master List" to my to-read list ;-) I echo Lisa's thanks to everyone for putting together another great group of books!

I'd like to add Even Monsters Need Haircuts by Matthew McElligott. This is one of my new favorite Monster books, and I'd have nominated it for this discussion if I'd come across it sooner. I love the very funny, detailed illustrations.

Abigail's witchy picture book list is great!!!

And, David, that does look like a fun title. Thanks for adding it to our master list.

I just read Shrek! (the original by William Steig; not one of the movie tie-ins) and think it fits well for a Monster theme.

I gave it four stars in my review:
This is about the delightfully dreadful Shrek--the ORIGINAL Shrek. Yes, Shrek is a hideous and vastly unpleasant (and stinky!) ogre, yes there is a donkey, and yes there is an (ugly) princess waiting to be rescued. But, the similarities between the movie end there. This is basically the tale of how Shrek goes around causing havoc, delighting in disgusting people, once he is (literally) kicked out out of the house, er, hole in the ground, by his parents. When he meets a witch who gives him a prophecy, he decides to accept the quest and go find the monstrous princess. The illustrations are (purposely) repulsive, but they certainly do reflect the story well! I feel they are a bit juvenile in style, reminding me of a child's crayon drawings, but I think this is intentional.


SPOILERS: I can certainly see why they made the movie Shrek a bit more loveable and capable of change and doing good. The Shrek in this story is not exactly heroic, though he does get the girl and lives happily ever after (as they terrorize others). Still, I found the stortelling oddly beguiling and, while not my usual cup of tea, it makes a great choice for Halloween or monster-themed reading.

Always Listen to Your Mother is really cute and features a monster family and a human family. The illustrations are fun and just spooky enough to make this a good read for Halloween, too.

Druscilla's Halloween I just read this to my kids and we all really enjoyed it. Here's my review:I thought this was a cute and clever story that tells why/how witches began riding brooms. I liked the illustrations and I loved that while Druscilla's plans to go and scare the kids just the perfect amount on Halloween didn't work out the way she planned, she didn't give up. When her plan failed, she came up with a new plan... several times. Great way to talk about determination, not quitting, etc. Plus, I laughed out loud at the line. ..."Don't count me out. I have not yet begun to fright!" :) Loved that clever little historical reference. Other reviewers have obviously not loved it nearly as much although only a couple have commented on why. Anyway, I liked it quite a bit.

The Picky Little Witch Loved this book!! Since I've heard comments in my home such as "Mom, I don't know what you're cooking, but I know I don't like it" I can relate to this Mama Witch. (In defense of my children, I should point out that that comment was a year or two ago, and just today two of them told me how good dinner was and one said that I always cook good things.) Anyway, the picky little witch doesn't even want to try the soup (and with ingredients like "eye of newt, toe of sock, heel of boot, salted rock"--who can blame her?) but once she does, she finds that she likes it. At the end, after trick-or-treating, she offers candy to her mom who tries to use the same tactics to avoid eating the chocolate that the daughter uses to avoid the soup. Super cute! My kids and I all loved it. As soon as I finished, my 3 yo said, "Read it again!"

Up and Away with the Little Witch! Cute story... I particularly liked the illustrations. I thought the story was okay, but we all enjoyed the illustrations.

Jenny wrote: "Druscilla's Halloween I just read this to my kids and we all really enjoyed it. Here's my review:I thought this was a cute and clever story that tells why/how witches began riding b..."

Thank you, Jenny! I already have "Up and Away with the Little Witch" on my to-read list, and am adding "Picky Little Witch" now :-)

Porkenstein and Professor Wormbog in Search for the Zipperump-a-Zoo came up in the course of our discussions over in the main thread. Thought I would add them to the list here; they sound great! :-)

Always enjoy your "Witchy Books" list, Abigail. Thank you for adding more, with your reviews, to our master list here :-)

Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book

A cute and fun board book that features some Irish folklore creatures and practices the numbers from one to ten (both adding and subtracting), a nice story, although I do not like the attitude of always being silent and that the Banshee (who is basically depicted as a little girl) is always told to be quiet.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

(view spoiler)[Yes, yes, yes and indeed in very many ways, Kyle and Derek Sullivan's 2017 board book Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book is visually and illustratively fun, presents an engaging, delightful and gloriously colourful tool for teaching and practicing both adding the numbers from one to ten and also later subtracting the numbers from ten to one (and with the Sullivan brothers for Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book using a creative assortment of cutely rendered magical Irish creatures/monsters, the banshee of the book title, ghosts, hobgoblins, bog monsters, trolls, fairy warriors, leprechauns as well as some local Irish fishermen and a group of druids alongside of cleverly rollicking and playful rhymes to teach young children their numbers and how to count both forwards and backwards).

And indeed, Derek Sullivan’s (digital) artwork for Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book is cartoony, sweet and he adds sufficient detail to the illustrations without the pictures becoming visually overwhelming for the intended age group, for toddlers from about the age of two to four or five, so that Banshee for example is shown with a cheery disposition, as playful, perpetually excited, and that yes, all of the magical creatures featured in Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book are depicted as being never frightening or creepy looking (and indeed, with the only mildly or potentially uncanny appearing illustrations Sullivan features in Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book in fact being humans and not really the monsters and ghosts, being the Irish fishermen and in particular those nine druids with their large and expressionless eyes, that the Irish folklore creatures of Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book look huggably cuddly and with no physical attributes or features that could in my opinion scare young and/or sensitive children).

But just to point that while I do like the general set-up for Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book and that the combination of Derek Sullivan's fun and colourful pictures and his twin brother Kyle's lively text does tend to make me smile (and is both toddler friendly and also for the most part very nicely numerically educational), there unfortunately are three textual issues I have found with Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book (and that taken together they sufficiently annoy and frustrate me to negatively and lastingly affect potential reading pleasure and thus also my star rating, which has now slipped from an original consideration of four to but three stars).

For one (and yes indeed, this does kind of hugely make me cringe), while I certainly appreciate the idea of Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book teaching young children that there are times for being noisy and times for being quiet, I certainly and hugely chafe at the fact that Banshee is always being told to be quiet, that she is never being told in Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book that it is alright and fine to sometimes be loud and exuberantly boisterous (and considering that Banshee is illustrated and obviously meant to be a little girl, there certainly is a feeling that little girls should be seen and not heard all that much inhabiting the pages of Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book and that this does make me feel rather frustrated and also rather uncomfortable). For two, while the numbers from one to nine in Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book appear nicely linear and straight-forward, counting backwards from ten becomes more than a bit confusing and as such also a trifle annoying (and should definitely be handled by Kyle Sullivan in a more organised and less potentially distracting and confusing manner). Finally, for three (and although not in any manner a huge deal and just something that would be or could be interesting for care givers, for parents, teachers, babysitters etc.) I do wish that at the back of Hush Now, Banshee!: A Not-So-Quiet Counting Book there would be a bit of folkloric information on the druids, banshees, bog monsters etc. provided (and maybe a list of book titles for further reading as well). (hide spoiler)]

Krampus Baby!

Toddlers (and children up to around the age of four to five) will probably enjoy searching for Krampus, living the flaps and that Krampus is a baby and also huggable, sweet and not at all frightening (and the illustrations are indeed really gorgeous and wonderfully European Christmas oriented). But the text itself is too cute and not really about what Krampus' role in Christmas folklore is, which is alright for a board book like Krampus Baby! but which I personally do find a bit lacking an boring (and even a cute and not frightening Krampus could have been in my opinion depicted and described both verbally and visually as accompanying Saint Nicholas on his rounds and punishing naughty children while Saint Nicholas rewards good behaviour).

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


(view spoiler)[So yes, despite Elias Barks' (text) and Zoe Persico's (artwork) 2022 board book Krampus Baby featuring goblins, a witch, a Yule Goat, various gnomes, Saint Nicholas, and of course also the Krampus of the book title (with Persico's illustrations of Krampus being generally true to his monster origins, giving him a half-goat appearance, with red pupils, yellow eyes, chains around his waist and devilish horns, but also mostly appearing like a sweet-natured and mischievous small in stature baby or toddler and therefore at least in my humble opinion not really all that potentially visually frightening or creepy), and that both Barks' text and even more so Persico's illustrations provide a fun and nicely Bavarian/Austrian Christmas scenario and background, with ample snow, a typical Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market), a Christmas tree lit not with electric lights but with actual candles and of course also Saint Nicholas' sleigh as well as Yuletide bonfires, Krampus Baby to and for me actually bears almost no resemblance at all to traditional European Alpine folklore in which Krampus functions as the darker and often rather demonic companion to Saint Nicholas, where well-behaved and polite children are given praise and sweetmeats by Saint Nicholas, but that naughty and disrespectful children receive lumps of coal, are beaten with tree twigs by Krampus (and in some stories that are obviously meant to frighten children into behaving are shown as getting kidnapped and devoured by Krampus and taken to hell). And thus, and therefore, a bit more in particular textual contents and thematics authenticity from Elias Barks' pen regarding who Krampus is and what his job as Saint Nicholas' companion means would definitely make Krampus Baby considerably better and as such more to my reading tastes (both for my inner child and even more so for myself as an adult reader, who also really misses with Krampus Baby the inclusion of supplemental details and information on Krampus and on his traditional roles as a Yuletide monster and as the companion and scary rather pagan, heathen foil and counterpart to the Catholic and Orthodox patron saint of children). And while in Krampus Baby! Krampus being shown both verbally and illustratively playing hide-and-seek as he journeys from the hills above town to the market square, jumping down the chimney, giggling when he is discovered in a basket etc. (and with the lift the flap searches for Krampus probably being nicely fun for the intended audience, for young children from about the age of two to four or five), for me, what Elias Barks is textually providing is at best rather uninspiring, rather blah (and also not that Krampus oriented either), and that indeed, the only reason why my rating for Krampus Baby! is still three and not two stars being that both my inner child and equally so my older adult reading self do find Zoe Persico's pictures for Krampus Baby! delightful and wonderfully European, or rather Bavarian, Austrian, Swiss European. (hide spoiler)]