What's A Spook To Do? The Little Ghost Who Lost Her Boo! by Elaine Bickell

A LITTLE GHOST WENT OUT IN THE NIGHT,
AND FLEW UP TO SOMEONE TO GIVE THEM A FRIGHT.
SHE GOT IN POSITION, ARMS UP, ALL PREPARED.
"WAIT FOR IT, LADY! YOU'RE GOING TO BE SCARED!"

But the little spook's BOO seemed to be...nowhere!
What's a ghost with no BOO to do?
But this is a spunky little spook who sets off to look for her BOO! Off through the dark forest she flew, and then she heard a scary WHOOO! WHOOO!
But Mrs. Owl's hoot will never do.
Pigeon offers to loan her COO! and Rooster says she can borrow his COCKLE-DOODLE-DOO. The dark is fading with the dawn's early light, and Cow in her pasture even suggests her MOO! Little ghost thanks her, but it's just not HER BOO!,
There's no one left to help but YOU, the READER!

YES, YOU! CAN YOU HELP LITTLE GHOST FIND HER BOO?

In a scary season book just made for reading aloud, Elaine Bickell's The Little Ghost Who Lost Her Boo! (Philomel Books) has all the right stuff--a Halloween setting, animal sounds, rhyming couplets, and reader participation! With skillfully charming drawings by Raymond McGrath, this one is just right for little ones from nursery school to beginning readers.
Share this one with the classic of scary sounds story, The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. (See review here)

Transitioning...: Goodbye Brings Hello: A Book of Firsts by Dianne White

There are many ways
Of letting go.

With each goodbye,
A new hello.

It's a paradigm and a paradox.

In life change is a constant.

For kids the changes come fast. Some can come hard, like the first day of school. Some can be liberating, like big kid shoes.

Loop the laces.
Knot the bows.

So long.
Velcro covered toes!

Chunky crayons held in a chubby fist give way to penciled letters sitting right on the line. The door to home closes, the school bus door opens with a shooosh, and the school doors wait to be opened with the whole world inside. Leaving safety behind sometimes means finding new adventures.

Ringing bell.
Preschool trike.

Wind in your face,
Big-kid bike.

Changes, changes! Dianne White's Goodbye Brings Hello: A Book of Firsts (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018) promises that when one door closes, another opens, and this positive take on the changes life brings is happy, positive look at the challenges in early life.

It's easy to chuckle at childish fears, but changes can be scary at any age. Some are a little sad; even ditching a favorite but outgrown pullover or a much loved Teddy for something new is hard, and truth to tell, change often requires leaving something behind to embrace the unknown. Along with White's perky rhymes, artist Daniel Wiseman's illustrations capably hint at how hard it is to give up one safe place for one unknown but likely worth it in the long run. Facing firsts, like the first day in a new school, takes courage, and this comfy read-aloud book can help kids go forward.

Spooky Treat: Five Silly Ghosts illustrated by Hilli Kushnir

Oh, dear! Who's that on brooms--high up in the air?

"BOO! I DON'T CARE!"

Little ghosts drift through the darkening sky. A big yellow moon rises high, and the small spirits seem to be all in costume--one with eyepatch and pirate hat, one with a red clown nose, one as a princess with crown and scepter, one in a tall black witch's hat, and one masked as a cat.

Little witches zoom, astride a broom.

But what are these fearless little specters up to?

These little ghosties are not scared. They are prepared--each one with a bright bag, a cauldron, or a plastic pumpkin. What do they want?

Treats and some fun for everyone!

It's a proper jolly All Hallow's Eve with black cats and black bats. And when the wind goes whooooo! and blows out the candles' light, with a bit of a fright the five silly ghosts decide to call it a night!

The scary season is coming soon, and we can count on some version of this jolly rhyming counting song to make an appearance to prepare youngsters for the fun and frivolities of the Halloween holiday season. This same counting rhyme appears in many versions--with five little pumpkins, five little goblins, five little black cats, et al--the characters change, but the rhythmic folk song format remains pretty much the same, with a bit of counting skills for toddlers and a lot of fun for youngsters to sing together.

In this brand new board book version, artist Hilli Kushner gives us sparkly little ghosts out for a bit of trick-or-treating on diecut pages that picture what's come before and preview what's coming next as cues for emergent readers in Five Silly Ghosts (board book) (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018), in a fun read-along that every little would-be spook should share in the spooky season.

They're BAAaak! Sheep Go To Sleep by Nancy Shaw

SCREECHES! RUSTLING! NOISY CRICKETS!
SHEEP HEAR HOOTS FROM NEARBY THICKETS.

NIGHTTIME NOISES SCARE THE SHEEP.
REALLY, WHO COULD GO TO SLEEP?

Sheep are a natural for a sleepytime story, except--these five sheep can't get to sleep.

They've got winking fireflies to light their way and get them in the mood to snooze; they've got a fold filled with fluffy straw. So what's missing in this nocturnal mix?

Security, that's what. Sheep are not good sleepers! Why do you think they're up, nervously jumping fences at all hours, while wakeful wannabe snoozers are counting them from their beds?

Luckily, these sheep have just what they need, a watchful sheepdog, in the form of a jolly boarder collie pup who knows just what each sheep needs to get to sleep. The count goes up as Sheep One succumbs to snores after a snuggly doggy hug. Sheep Two needs a sip of water before he goes under, and Sheep Three is lured into slumber by a lullaby.

THREE SLEEP. HOW MANY MORE?

With three down, the last two sheep drop off in sleep with the delivery of that tried-and true bedtime duo--the Teddy bear and the blankie! It's all in a night's work for their watchdog, who finally gets his own forty winks, in Nancy Shaw's eighth in series, Sheep Go to Sleep (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015).

This newest in Shaw's Sheep Series has all the elements that have delighted children from the first book, Sheep in a Jeep--rhythmic rhyming couplets that feel just right, and Margot Apple's beguilingly silly sheep, their expressive faces and body language softly sketched in colored pencil. Artist Apple adds a quizzical observer to the pictures, a sleepy seagull who seems to have wandered into the story simply to nab a nap herself, and Shaw also slips in a bit of counting practice for the youngest sheep fans. Altogether a sweetly suggestive bedtime soother that can't help but induce sleepiness at just the right time of night.

Friendship, Color Blendship: Monsters Love Colors by Mike Austin

MIX, MASH, AND SPLASH!

SQUISH, MISH, AND SQUEESH!

MONSTERS LOVE COLOR!

And these weird amorphous guys seem to love to scribble and dribble color everywhere, filling pages with squiggles and wiggle waggles of color, with paints and markers and crayons. Not only do Blue and Red scribble their marks everywhere; Yellow even proceeds to nibble his yellow crayon to show what a yummy color it is.

The top-team, primary colors, Red, Blue, and Yellow Monsters, have a strong self-identity with their colors and proclaim it to the skies. Red shouts that his color roars and snores ....and much more.

But the junior varsity monsters, little, colorless gray Elmo-like blobs, are not so self-confident. They feel like nonentities, and they don't like it one bit! But when they complain, the primary monsters come up with a plan. Red and Yellow scribble their markers all over one small gray monster, and ...Voila! Orange Monster is born!

Not to be outdone, Green and Blue try the same tactic and.... behold! Before us now stands a proud Green Monster! And Red and Blue swallow their differences across the color wheel and blend to form Purple Monster. Wow!

What's not to like in Mike Austen's Monsters Love Colors, a joyous monster mash which teaches primary and secondary colors and touches on the tertiary hues, has lots of paint splashing and crayon scribbling and dancing, wiggling monsters, and ends with a rainbow of colors, the perfect friendship-blendship of the color fraternity! Although there are cleverer books that teach color identification (see Lois Ehlert's classics, Color Zoo and Color Farm)  this one is a kid magnet that reinforces the basics about the color wheel in a whimsical way. "Austin's squiggly, untamed swirls of crayon, pencil and ink and the high energy in his casual style (complete with silliness: "Hey! Don't eat your crayons, silly monster!") may coax even the bounciest little monsters to sit down for storytime--and run for the crayons and poster paper afterwards. Groovy!" quips Kirkus Reviews.

Sweet Embraceable You! The Perfect Hug by Joanna Walsh

I HAVE TRIED THEM ALL...

ELASTIC HUGS!
GYMNASTIC HUGS!
ENTHUSIASTIC HUGS!
BUT....

What is the perfect hug? A little panda, geared up in deerstalker cap and magnifying glass a la Sherlock sets out to find the quintessential embrace–with mixed results. It’s hard to get a humongous hug from a creature without arms! (So snails are out!) But then, spiders have a tad too many!

Big hugs from a grizzly? Y-e-e-s, they’re big, all right, but maybe too toothy and terrifying!

Out in Star Wars land, in a Galaxy far away? Um... Lots of space out there to search.

Down deep in the sea? A jellyfish! Nope, too easy to get stung among all those entangling tentacles!

Cow hug? Where do you start? Tiger hug? (See warning for grizzly above.)

What kind of hug is best for a little panda? That’s not a mystery in Joanna Walsh’s companion book to her 2011 hit, The Biggest Kiss (Paula Wiseman Books), titled The Perfect Hug (Paula Wiseman Books, 2012). Little Panda finds that panda hugs match panda hugs in Walsh’s latest sit-and-snuggle story for preschoolers. Despite her young audience, Walsh’s verse is sophisticated, with internal rhymes and surprising juxtapositions and lots of opportunities for vocabulary stretching. Artist Judi Abbott returns to extend the humor with her just-right, rounded and bright pastel illustrations, as warm and inviting as an embrace themselves. Together, these two books make the perfect almost-bedtime read-aloud duo.

Eeny-Meeney: Ten Tiny Toes by Todd Tarpley

INTO THE WORLD
CAME TEN TINY TOES,

A HUNDRED TIMES SWEETER
THAN YOU COULD SUPPOSE.

Todd Tarpley's sweet and simple little story-in-rhyme, Ten Tiny Toes (Little, Brown, 2012) is in praise of the glory of babies, filled with the rush of affection almost anyone feels at the sight of those rosy pink little feet. Kisses and bubble baths, cuddles and nuzzles follow the initial sight of those little toes, and the love which surrounds the baby nurtures and leads the child to use those little feet to stand and walk and run, to explore and eventually venture out into the world, into a life that these loving parents hope will bring future little toes coming into the world.

SOMEDAY WHEN THOSE TEN
TINY TOES ARE ALL GROWN

HAPPILY RAISING
TEN TOES OF THEIR OWN,

THEY WILL THINK OF THOSE KISSES
THAT MADE THEM FEEL STRONG.

THEY'LL TAKE ALL THOSE KISSES,
AND PASS THEM ALONG.

Such sweet imagery and happily predictable rhymes could easily sink into greeting card smarmitude, but the notable illustrator Marc Brown's imaginative pastel paper collage and colored pencil illustrations manage to give this poem in praise of infant toes a certain easy humor and a light touch without excess sentimentality that makes this a delightful little book to share with the very young.

Losers Weepers! Three Little Kittens by Jerry Pinkney

THREE LITTLE KITTENS

THEY GOT NEW MITTENS

AND THEY BEGAN TO CHEER,

OH, MOTHER DEAR, OH MOTHER DEAR,

MAY WE GO OUT TO PLAY?"

Artist Jerry Pinkney, five time Caldecott Honor winner, recently for his fabulous (in more ways than one) The Lion & the Mouse, sets out again to take a piece of venerable folklore and make it into a memorable picture book experience for modern kids. Pinkney sticks close to the traditional rhymes for his story line, concentrating on picturing the kittens both endearingly and realistically.

"OH, MOTHER DEAR, WE SADLY FEAR

OUR MITTENS WE HAVE LOST."

"WHAT? LOST YOUR MITTENS?

YOU CARELESS KITTENS!

THEN YOU SHALL HAVE NO PIE."

The little kittens, true to the traditional form, lose their mittens and find them, make a mess of their mittens with the pie filling and duly wash them, all to get back into their exasperated but patient mother's good graces in time to go back out to play, and we might guess, misplace their mittens yet again.

Pinkney's illustrations linger lovingly over the kitties' luxuriantly variegated fur, its texture tactually rendered in luscious pastel watercolors. Pinkney humorously hides the misplaced mittens in the autumn leaves that litter their playground, and in the closing slyly shows one kitten's new knitted cap already lost in the leaves again, thereby hiding a bit of visual fun for young readers here and there.

Three Little Kittens (Dial Books, 2010) is a vivacious fall-flavored addition to every nursery rhyme shelf. As School Library Journal says, "This is another superb entry in the artist's catalog of classics for a new generation."