We couldn’t get enough Halloween fun with just animal books, so here is another reading list to get you thinking…Do you have your costume for trick or treat yet? Well, we have thought quite a bit about our costumes and decided to take inspiration from a few Arbordale books. Here is another reading list for the season that might inspire a costume or two!
Ghosts have been part of Halloween traditions from the very beginning. Although we don’t know much about the Irish traditions of Samhain, we know it was a harvest festival where the spirit world would join the real world where ghosts and faeries walked among the living. This event is the origin of today’s Halloween celebrations. At first, the bedsheet ghost became a way to distinguish spirits in the theatre then later taken to the streets for trickery. The Ghost of Donley Farm has a feathery shroud, but his mystique is equally intriguing to Rebecca.
The Ghost of Donley Farm
Rebecca, the red-tailed hawk, is not afraid of ghosts! One night, she bravely ventures into the barn to meet the famous ghost of Donley Farm. But when she finally meets him, Rebecca is surprised to discover that this “ghost” is much more familiar than she’d expected. Join Rebecca as she stays up late to talk with her new friend and find out what they have in common and how they are different.
Halloween is a magical night, but why? Again, we go back to Ireland and the Druids of the Samhain festival. Druids were known to turn those that did bad deeds into black cats. The connection between magical powers and All Hallows Eve began. Today, on Halloween night, you might see young witches and wizards stopping door to door for candy; but, what about someone that only uses illusion to create magic? Get your top hat, maybe a rabbit, and study some tricks in Magnetic Magic!
Magnetic Magic
Dena loves using magnets to perform magic tricks for the kids at the pool. When Enrique arrives in town, he doesn’t like that Dena is fooling the others. He gives her a century-old treasure map and Dena uses her compass and tools to plot the location of the treasure. To her surprise, the treasure is not where it should be! What could cause her compass to lead her off course? When she discovers the answer, will Dena keep fooling the other kids with magic tricks or will she help them learn about magnetism and the earth’s shifting magnetic poles?
While many believe that wolves howl at the moon, they are actually communicating with each other. But the full-moon turns the mythical werewolf from its human shape into an evil wolf-like creature at its appearance. References to the werewolf, or lycanthrope, span hundreds of years but were prominent in the middle ages. Halloween movies often include the shapeshifting creature among the monsters. Maybe readers of One Wolf Howls might consider either the real or mythical animal as a Halloween costume.
One Wolf Howls
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a wolf? What would you do in the cold winter months? Where would you sleep? What would you eat? Spend a year in the world of wolves in One Wolf Howls. This adventurous children’s book uses the months of the year and the numbers 1 through 12 to introduce children to the behavior of wolves in natural settings. The lively, realistic illustrations of Susan Detwiler complement the rhyming text and bring each month to life. From January to December, howl, frolic, and dance, while learning important lessons page-by-page! The “For Creative Minds” learning section includes a “Wolf Communications Matching” and “Wolf Calendar” activity.
Midnight is the hour of the supernatural. There are references to spells being cast at midnight, and at this hour on a full moon, madness sets in. Throughout ancient history, madness has been depicted in some very disturbing ways, but we have a much more fun way to spend the evening, an animal basketball game!
Midnight Madness at the Zoo
The bustle of the crowd is waning and the zoo is quieting for the night. The polar bear picks up the ball and dribbles onto the court; the nightly game begins. A frog jumps up to play one-on-one and then a penguin waddles in to join the team. Count along as the game grows with the addition of each new animal and the field of players builds to ten. Three zebras serve as referees and keep the clock, because this game must be over before the zookeeper makes her rounds.
No matter your Halloween costume, we hope you have had as much fun with this reading list as we have had making it. To learn more about each book, go to arbordalepublishing.com or click on the title.
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