Top 10 for Tuesday, October 18

Halloween is my favorite holiday!  I look forward to Halloween like most people look forward to Christmas.  I love being scared, I love scaring... I love dressing up!  I think it all started for me when my parents let me watch The Exorcist (I was way too young!) and I had nightmares about Gene Simmons for months... He looked a little like Regan to me.  I shared a bedroom with my sister- I slept in the top bunk and she in the bottom bunk... I thought she was the devil and would get me if I let my foot dangle off the side.  I would lay there in bed, frozen...  That was not a good scare, but I think it had a long tern impact on me.  TMI?  

This week I give you my top 10 favorite Halloween picture books (all available in the Lemme Library, on the awesome Halloween book display!)  None of these books are as scary as The Exorcist (or Rosemary's Baby... another movie that etched into my young soul!)

Who Took My Hairy Toe?   By Shutta Crum 398.2 CRU

Old Tar Pockets is a greedy man- and he would take a bottle from a baby.  He is nosing around a neighbor's farm and he finds some hot tar... so of course he puts a big scoop in his pocket- he might find a use for it.  He also finds a huge hairy toe with a long yellow toe nail... and he thinks "Finders keepers!".  He puts the toe in his pocket with the tar, and it gets stuck!  So does his hand!!  Later that night, a hideous creature returns for his toe...  Read and see what happens to Ol' Tar Pockets!

The Perfect Pumpkin Pie by Denys Cazet E CAZ 

Old Man Wilkerson dies before he eats the perfect pumpkin pie, so he comes back from the dead and haunts a little boy and his grandma until he finds the perfect pie.  Grandma keeps trying- thinking that once the ghost has his pie he will leave.  The illustrations are hilarious!  Spooky, but not too spooky!

One Witch by Laura Leuck E LEU

This is a fun counting book!  The old witch is preparing for her annual Halloween party.  She is gathering the ingredients for her ghastly Halloween Stew... from 2 cats to 10 werewolves, but are these the ingredients or the guests???

Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler E CUL

Skeleton has the hiccups and he just can't get rid of them.  His friend Ghost comes over and offers his advice.  Eat a spoon of sugar (it goes right through him), Hold your breath (no lungs!)  Drink upside down (it runs out of his eye sockets)... until Ghost gets smart and decides to scare skeleton!  How do you get rid of hiccups?  I drink upside down! 
The Skeleton in the Closet by Alice Schertle E SCH

A skeleton terrorizes a little boy, causing him to flee for his life and hide in his bedroom.  As the skeleton approaches his bedroom door and enters... the boy realizes that he is just there for clothes!  The skeleton is tired of walking around in bones!  The kids always think this is going to end badly... until the skeleton goes into the closet and comes out with boxer shorts on!

Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini E PAL 

Not a Halloween book, but a witch book.  Not just any witch, Gritch the Witch, a hungry (not too bright) witch, who is looking for 8 plump piggies for piggie pie.  She heads to Old McDonald's Farm to find the pigs- but there are no pigs!  The pigs are way more clever than Gritch, and manage to out smart her!  Will she get piggie pie???
Read this book and LOL!!

Cold Feet by Cynthia DeFelice E DEF

Willie McPhee is a bagpiper who is in search of a town that can afford to pay him for his music.  As he walks, his boots get so worn out, he can barely go on.  He trips over what he thinks is a log- but it is a frozen dead man,  wearing boots that were too fine to pass up.  He drops the man's leg and it snaps off... so he takes to boots with the legs, and heads to a farm to find shelter.  He uses the legs to play a prank on the mean farmer and the prank backfires on him.

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything 

by Linda Williams E WIL

 This is a great repeating story that little kids love!  It is just scary enough to keep them on the edge of their seat, but ends well.  A little old lady walking home through the woods is terrorized by a pumpkin man.  He chases her all the way home and when she opens the door...  (Read it and see!!)

Velcome by Kevin O'Malley E OMA

This is a picture book collection of scary stories that end with a funny twist!  The key is to read it aloud and read it like it is the scariest thing you have ever read!  Then, when you deliver the punch line, the kids will go crazy!  Like "The Viper" who wants to come up to your house while you are all alone... he turns out to be a Window Wiper with a vampire accent!

The Teeny Tiny Teacher: A Teeny Tiny Ghost Story by Stephanie Calmenson E CAL

The teeny tiny teacher finds a teeny tiny bone, and the owner of the bone wants it back.  This is a great story to read out loud... each time you ask for the bone use a louder voice... This leads to a great "boo" effect at the end!