Can't Scare Me! The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams

For a Halloween readaloud for young children, Linda William's gloriously ebullient The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything has it all.

A variant of the folk tale in which a ghost appears part by part, this story begins with a little old woman who sets forth on a windy autumn afternoon to gather a basketful of herbs and spices, nuts and seeds. As a golden sliver of a moon rises, she turns back for home, only to meet up with a pair of big brown shoes who confront her with a slightly threatening "Clomp, Clomp!" Well, this lady is not to be easily intimidated. "Get out of my way, you two big shoes. I'm NOT afraid of YOU," she says and continues on her way, only to hear behind her the "CLOMP, CLOMP" of the following shoes.

In true cummulative tale formula, the little old lady meets a pair of green pants which go "WIGGLE, WIGGLE," a white shirt which goes "SHAKE SHAKE," and a pair of white gloves and a tall black hat which go "CLAP, CLAP," and "NOD, NOD." At each appearance she orders the apparitions out of her way and repeats, "I'm NOT afraid of YOU," but as the ghostly apparel line up noisily behind her, she walks a bit more hurriedly through the dark woods.

At last, with her lighted cottage windows just in sight, the little lady is startled by a "very huge, very orange, very scary pumpkin head" who goes, "BOO, BOO" This time the little old lady does not stop, but runs, with the entire entourage trailing behind, until she's on the inside of her own front door.

Just as she tries to catch her breath before her fire, she hears an ominous "KNOCK KNOCK" on the door.

"Should she answer it?
Well, SHE was not afraid of anything.
So she went to the door and opened it.
What do you think she saw?

Two shoes go CLOMP CLOMP.
One pair of pants go WIGGLE, WIGGLE,
One shirt go SHAKE, SHAKE,
Two gloves go CLAP, CLAP,
One hat go NOD, NOD,
And one scary pumpkin head go BOO, BOO!"

When the little old lady declares bravely that she is not afraid of the whole lot of haunted haberdashery, the poor pumpkin head is crestfallen to have failed in his mission. But then the little lady whispers advice in his ear, and he smiles.

As the little lady looks out the window early the next morning, the text asks, "What do you think she saw?" Most kids can guess that, to the old lady's delight, the assorted apparitions have assembled themselves into a highly effective figure, topped with a jack-o'-lantern face, which scares ALL the crows away.

With its recurring refrain and opportunity for great listener participation (clomping, and wiggling, shaking, nodding and clapping, and shouting BOO, BOO!), this makes a wonderful readaloud for preschool groups or for a single child. The folksy illustrations are just right, and the final page, with the jolly scarecrow guarding the little cottage garden, is splendidly satisfying.

This story is also available with a paperback paired with a listen-along CD.