Going for the Green! Esme' and the Emerald Fairy: The Search for the Sparkle Stone by Sara Clese and Lara Ede

Across the bridge almost hidden from sight,
stood a small museum with flags of green and white.

The museum kept all kind of things, from books to giant bones.
But best and most amazing were its sparkling precious stones!

The museum's curators, the Emerald Fairy and shy little Esme', are charged with keeping the gemstones sparkling clean. Little Esme' is too modest to admit that her wand's magic has the power to keep the precious stones sparkling, but when the wand stops working, the precious stones lose their bright glimmer. What to do?

Esme' and the Fairy call in their friends. Susie Fairy and Daphne appear and the search for the one book that holds the secret to the Mystery of the Sparkling Stone. Will Esme' find the courage to release her wand from the great White Cave?

All that glitters is not gold, and in Sara Clese's and Lane Ede's Esme the Emerald Fairy and the Search for the Sparkle Stone (Sparkle Town Fairies) (Make Believe Ideas, 2017), shy Esme' has the courage and all the right stuff to complete their mission, and the museum is soon aglow again in this entry into the Sparkle Town Fairies series. For kids who like more than a bit of bling in their picture books, there's plenty of sparkle and glitter from a giant emerald and two-way movable sequins on the cover and sprinkled inside this dazzling toy-and-movable book. Like their heroine Esme', young readers may need sunglasses as they read this one!

Other books in this glitzy series include Sparkle Town Fairies Rosie the Ruby Fairy, Daphne the Diamond Fairy and the Catwalk Catastrophe (Sparkle Town Fairies), and Sparkle Town Fairies Alice the Amber Fairy.

This Little Light of Mine! I'm Not Afraid of the Dark by Helena Harastova

SOMETHING JUST WOKE ME UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.

IS IT A MONSTER?

There's nothing worse than waking to things that go bump in the night.

There's a something in Tommy's closet.

But Tommy's got his Teddy bear AND his secret weapon. Inside his close it reveals--only his clothes and some toys!

I'M NOT AFRAID OF THEM!

Now there's a something bumping around in the garage. Could it be aliens from outer space?

Nope. Just Daddy, getting some luggage down from the shelf.

Wait! What's that squeaking around the garbage cans? A troll?

Oh, no, silly me! It's just a rabbit. Now I see.

What is Tommy's secret weapon? His magical flashlight reveals just ordinary stuff going on.

In Helena Harastova's reassuring story, Tommy's theme song is "This Little Light of Mine," as he lets his flashlight shine on all the seemingly scary places that reveal the sources of ordinary noises of the night, in her I'm Not Afraid of the Dark (Chronicle Books, 2017. Sometimes a flashlight is truly the the secret to taking the fright out of those bumps in the night, and with Harastova's little flap-and-pull-tab book, youngsters are in control of when and where the flashlight's beam is directed. Artist Jakub Cenkl adds to the fun by adding a little humor with his illustrations to each night noise in a different sort of bedtime story.

Don't Open That Door! In the Haunted House by Eve Bunting and Susan Meddaugh

THIS IS THE HOUSE WHERE THE SCARY ONES HIDE.

OPEN THE DOOR AND STEP SOFTLY INSIDE.

Who can resist the invitation to visit a haunted house? It's tall. It's dark. And the door is ajar.

Two kids take the challenge.

AN ORGAN IS PLAYING A FUNERAL AIR.

IT'S PLAYING AND PLAYING, BUT NOBODY IS THERE.

Only the running feet of the two children are seen, speedily exiting page right.

But there are more scary creatures to be revealed by strategically placed flaps. There's an old chest with a DO NOT LIFT sign, and of course the two kids must lift the lid, to reveal a rising Frankenstein monster. In an upstairs bedroom, a tall door hides--what else--a skeleton in the closet! There are touchy-feely flocked bats in the belfry, and a sleeping vampire in the old claw-footed bathtub. The kids make a quick tour, as evidenced by their retreating feet exiting each room, and finally their feet are seen clattering down the twisted stairway. But wait! What's there on the other side of the front door? Witches and a jack-o'-lantern? But beyond them the kids can see their waiting dad outside!

INTO THE DAY THAT IS A-SPARKLE WITH SUN.

HALLOWEEN HOUSES ARE OH-SO-MUCH FUN!

The Caldecott award-winning author Eve Bunting provides the catchy couplets and noted artist Susan Meddaugh, creator of the Martha Speaks series, combine talents in the spiffed-up and attractive paperback version of In the Haunted House Touch and Feel Lift-the-Flap Book (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013), a lift-the-flap book that provides youngsters a vicarious trip through a haunted house before they encounter one at a neighborhood Halloween carnival. Meddaugh's illustrations offer mildly spooky comic scenes with the clever device of never showing the children's reactions--just their sneakers, hot-footing it through the haunted house, to add to the fun. A nice Halloween treat, with rhyming lines that are easy to read aloud. Read this one with Eve Bunting's classic Scary, Scary Halloween, and the group-participation superstar, Linda D. Williams' wonderful The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. or Dav Pilkey's hilarious The Hallo-wiener. And for fans of Susan Meddaugh's Helen and Martha, there is her nifty Halloween story of the pre-alphabet soup Martha, The Witches' Supermarket. (8x8 with stickers) (Martha Speaks).

BRUM, BRUMM, BRUMMMM! Woodie Guthrie's Riding in My Car, designed by Scott Menchin

TAKE ME RIDING IN YOUR CAR, CAR,
TAKE ME RIDING IN YOUR CAR, CAR.

I'LL TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE, TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE,
TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE IN MY CAR, CAR.

A rubber-necking family of dogs sets out to see the U.S.A., fittingly making the tour in a three-dimensional "woody" convertible, as they take in such iconic scenes as Mt. Rushmore, the Stature of Liberty, The White House, the Golden Gate Bridge, and even Guthrie's hometown in Oklahoma.

The award-winning Scott Menchin has designed this "movable" book with winsome drawings, pull-tab and lift-the-flap action, and concealed historical and geographical notes (e.g., Route 66) of each landmark as the car rolls cross country, accompanied by part of the text of Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." Little fingers can turn wheels to make desert critters cross the road, move the car through a cloverleaf exchange, pull in a catch on the Mississippi, and make a bronco buck a buckaroo in a corral on the Western plain. All along, Woody's rhythmic text keeps everything rolling merrily along:

I'M GONNA LET YOU BLOW THE HORN,
I'M GONNA LET YOU BLOW THE HORN.

HONK, HONK, HONK! BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!
TAKING A RIDE IN MY CAR, CAR.

Scott Menchin's latest, Riding In My Car (lb-kids,, 2012) is the way to see the U.S.A, with never a whine of "Are we there yet?" An appendix provides a link to the Smithsonian and a playback of Woody Guthrie performing this song as the soundtrack for this delightful and joyful trip of a book.

Boo! Fancy Nancy and the Haunted Mansion by Jane O'Connor

Nancy is eagerly anticipating Halloween (That means she can hardly wait!) She and Bree are going to create a haunted mansion. (Mansion is fancy for a huge house.)

Use your stickers to help Nancy and Bree tell the neighborhood kids where to go.

What's more fun than going through a haunted house? How about helping Nancy Clancy and best buddy Bree create one?

Now fashionista fans of Nancy, empowered by a detailed double-page spread of reusable stickers inside the book, can help turn the Clancy house and grounds into a graveyard and haunted mansion by putting the finishing touches on the scary scene with the variety of stickers. While Mr. Clancy does his dad-ly duty removing the innards of the pumpkins, Nancy and her friends get to turn them into Jack-o'-Lanterns, either the traditional carved grin and scowl or other facial features such as glasses and mustaches if they want to get a bit innovative. There are black cats and bats, gravestones and ghosts, skeletons and spiders to place at will for atmosphere, and lots of costumes, headdresses, Halloween cupcakes, and bags of Kandy Korn to spread around for the guests.

Assisted by the illustrations of Carolyn Bracken and the inspiration of Robin Preiss Glasser's sparkly cover, O'Connor gives readers the chance to help Nancy put up signs, shop for party ware, decorate for her awesome affaire, and to dress Nancy in the costume of choice--extra posh or super scary! In Fancy Nancy's Haunted Mansion: A Reusable Sticker Book for Halloween (Harper, 2011), there are skoodoodles of fancy fun and a chance for a run-through for those Halloween hostesses who want to follow in Nancy Clancy's footsteps for their own posh bash.