Reading + Holidays:

Ghost Stories

 

            Today's Snack: Make Mashed Potato Ghosts! First, take waxed paper and cut out a ghost shape to use as a template. Put the template on a serving dish or cookie sheet. Now use a rubber spatula to mold and shape hot mashed potatoes into a ghost shape. You'll need about one cup of mashed potatoes per ghost. You can use tiny slices and bits of olives to make the eyes and mouth. Make sure NOT to eat the waxed paper!

 

--------------------

 

Supplies:

Library books or purchased books from a bookstore

 

 

            Holidays are a great springboard for reading fun, whether in the classroom, the after-school setting, or at home.

 

            Halloween - the only holiday during the year that's totally for children - has inspired a host of children's books with not-too-scary stories and fun costumes, pumpkins and other Halloween symbols.

 

            Make it a family tradition to buy a new Halloween book ever year, and maybe one for every child in the family. They are fun to haul out on Oct. 1 each year, and re-read.

 

You can also consider buying gently-used books on an online bookstore or at garage sales to give out as Halloween treats - a great alternative to candy.

 

Bookstores always have an array of wonderful new books to choose from, too. You can make it a fun shopping trip and help your child learn how to choose a book that can be read over and over again.

 

            Here are some ideas to get you started. These are mostly for ages 4-8:

 

            Kindle downloads are inexpensive, and here's a set of short stories available from www.amazon.com that would be fun to read to kids with the lights turned down low:

            14 Heart-Pounding Tales for Halloween, by eBook-Ventures

 

            The Night Before Halloween, Natasha Wing

 

The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat, Stan and Jan Berenstain

 

Sam's First Halloween, Mary Labatt and Marisol Sarrazin

 

Halloween Hide and Seek (Kids Play), DK Publishing

 

In the Haunted House, Eve Bunting and Susan Meddaugh

 

One Terrible Halloween (Sam - Dog Detective), Mary Labatt

 

The Halloween Kid, Rhode Montijo

 

Too Many Pumpkins, Linda White

 

Seen on Halloween (Wacky Flaps), Pat Binder

 

Room on the Broom, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

 

Franklin's Halloween, Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark

 

Arthur's Halloween Costume, Lillian Hoban

 

Corduroy's Best Halloween Ever! Don Freeman and Lisa McCure