Alice Low

This book made me smile. :) The stories in this book remind me of childhood days spent sitting in the cornfield on the edge of our neighborhood (yes, a cornfield in town -- the farmer refused to sell. When he passed away, the family sold his two fields to a developer who put apartments and an assisted living facility on them. I pity the kids in that neighborhood now. It's nice small-town living still...but no scary stories or games of hide and seek amid the stalks anymore. Sing with me: They paved paradise and put up a parkinggggg lot! You have me to thank for that song being in your head all day now. But.....back to my book review.....) Ahem.... ok we were all sitting in the cornfield at the edge of our neighborhood.....telling scary stories. Usually we had our sleeping bags to sit on, some snacks we ferreted from the cupboards at home and flashlights. Flashlights were necessary because when it was your turn to tell the story you had to shine the light up into your face so you looked scary. When it hit 10 pm, or we got a good case of the shivers,(whichever came first) it was time to go home. Because, our dads were all scarier than any stories we had to tell if we dared stay out past 10 pm. The stories in this book remind me of the tales we told each other as kids....ghosts, curses, haunted houses, giant cats, monsters, curses, etc. I smiled the entire time I was reading. What a fun book!

The illustrations by Gahan Wilson are colorful and just awesome!

The stories vary from folk tales from around the world, short stories by famous authors like Dickens and Washington Irving (shortened and retold for this story collection for kids), and old classics that all kids seem to love. Perfect stories for telling at camp, during sleepovers, on stormy nights to scare your little brother, and also for adults who love this sort of light, creepy fun just as much as kids!

I had so much fun reading these stories! I told my 13-year old that they put a picture of him in the book I was reading.....and then showed him a monster picture from the book. ha ha. :) He just gave me that angst-y look all parents of teenagers know very well, and then finally cracked a smile and walked out laughing. Just getting my own back for all the "you're old'' comments. :)

Alice Low is the author of several books for kids including story collections about myths and legends, holidays, sports and other great topics. I will definitely be reading more of her books! This was such a fun story collection! I'm sure to enjoy her other ones as well!

Gahan Wilson's artwork can be seen in many books....and I'm definitely reading more that contain his art because they have fantastic titles like: The Big Book of Freaks, The Weird World of Gahan Wilson, Still Weird, Even Weirder and Everybody's Favorite Duck. He also provided the illustrations for A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny. Who can resist a big book of freaks?? I certainly can't!
… (mais)

Witches' Holiday, illustrated by Tony Walton.

A boy with three witches living in his closet is always careful to shut the door before going to bed in this rhyming picture-book caper, but on Halloween night he is so tired out that he forgets. Out come the witches - one fat, one small and one tall and thin - and they proceed to play with, and break, every one of his toys, and to raid his Halloween candy. When their play leads them outside without their brooms, and they can't get back up to his room, the boy throws their belongings after them, and evicts them forever...

Originally published in 1971, with artwork by Tony Walton, Witches' Holiday was republished in 1997 with new illustrations by Tricia Tusa. It is the third witchy picture-book, after The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches and Zena and the Witch Circus, that I have read from author Alice Low. The rhyming text here is fun, and would make for a good seasonal read-aloud, while the eponymous witches are more annoying than frightening. The artwork alternates between vibrantly colorful two-page spreads, and black-and-white ones, and has a quirky, humorous quality that is very appealing. All in all, this was a nice little Halloween adventure, full of witchy fun, and is one I would recommend to picture-book readers looking for the same.… (mais)