Halloween - What's In It For Me?

"No, Princess, don't eat the candy.  That's for the children!"
"Get your nose out of the bowl!!"
"What are you doing in the garbage?!"

That's all I hear at Halloween.  Children schmildren is what I say.  Halloween should really be for dogs, and chocolate should be taken off the Halloween menu since dogs can't eat it.  I like skittles too, you know.  And the little individual packets go down nicely.

Oh, I guess I'm supposed to be talking about books, not food.  Sorry.  I am allowed to read the Halloween books, and I do have some favorites.  There are some very fun books for Halloween.  I bet you'll already know some of my favorites, but maybe I'll also tell you about some you've never seen before!

Here's a few that aren't officially Halloween but are good to read at this time of year:

Skeleton Hiccups - I'd like to chew on some of those skeleton bones, and seeing a skeleton try to drink water sure is fun.
Hoodwinked - small witch wants pet (of course!), bats are no fun - they sleep all day!  The toad has nothing to say, the warthog doesn't work out.  Then something too hideously cute shows up at the back door.

The Tailypo - doesn't that tail look suspiciously like mine?
King of the Cats, also by Paul Galdone - Brrrr!  Cats give me the creeps, especially in graveyards!

Two classics that you may already know about:

Big Pumpkin -Like the Great Big Enormous Turnip, but more tasty.
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything - Boo!

Two for the youngest listeners:
Mouse's First Halloween - Can you guess what all those noises are?  And one candy corn is a treat for a mouse (not for me, I require a whole bag)
Moonlight the Halloween Cat - It should have been about a dog, but this shows the magical excitement of being out late on a special night, maybe peeing on someone's lawn.

Fun for older:
The Perfect Pumpkin Pie - Dead cranky man buried in the backyard, new family in the house.  Unfortunately, the dead cranky man has now become a dead cranky ghost, and he won't go away until he gets the perfect pie.  Can Grandma provide it?  So funny!

Doesn't anyone notice that those jack o'lanterns are not children?

Zen Ghosts - A little beyond my dog brain, I admit.  Amazing pictures and a huge panda that reminds me of my dad, at least in girth.  And how did that Panda become two pandas?

Mom's Favorites, and I tell her they're mine, too, just to be nice:
The Runaway Pumpkin - Aaaaagh!
Annie Was Warned - Is that a spider on her neck?
The Three Bear's Halloween - hee, hee, hee

Sorry I didn't add author information, but I am a dog after all.  I can only do so much.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Holly Black, or, "Where Have My Bones Gone?!"

Do you like books about friends?  What about books with kids doing adventurous things, maybe things that  are a little dangerous, things that could happen only in books?  Do you like spooky?  Well, if you're hankering after a book that contains all of those things you need look no further than Holly Black's new book, "Doll Bones".  I shiver just thinking about that doll, and the way she moves on her own.  9 and up is probably a good age to read about what happens in this book.
What does this have to do with bones?  You'll never guess, so I'll tell you just a little!  A girl in the past met a tragic end (it involved a squishy, flattening experience - much like the mole from my last entry).  Her heartbroken father did something really gross and she ended up becoming a part of this doll that three friends, the hero and heroines of this book, find years later.  They have a dangerous and crazy adventure without parental permission, which you should never do!  It makes for a great, adventurous, and spooky story though.

Well, I for one am never going to do that to any bones, no matter how beloved!  It's downright frightening!  I like to sniff at bones, and chomp on them, and dig holes for them, maybe taunt the cats a little...

I guess besides chewing on bones you can also use them to help solve mysteries and crimes!  I didn't know this until I read, "Bones Never Lie: How Forensics Helps Solve History's Mysteries" by Elizabeth MacLeod.  I didn't even know history had mysteries.  Gosh, I don't even know what history is!

Anyway, this book is so interesting for extra-intelligent dogs and children ages 9 and up.  There's lots of pictures of bones and body parts, and true crime stories involving famous dead people like Napoleon and King Tut and Grand Duchess Anastasia.  How did they really die, and who probably killed them?  Find out about what amazing technology is now being used to solve old cases and new.  I think I'd become a dog detective if I had opposable thumbs.  Maybe I can help just by sniffing and gnawing at the bones.

Don't worry, you can still enjoy books about bones if you are 7 and younger.  Lisze Bechtold wrote a book called "Buster & Phoebe: The Great Bone Game".  This one is not scary, but it does have a little bossiness, some bullying, some lying, some subterfuge.  Turns out not all dogs are upstanding citizens!  Buster is a good boy, and is my favorite color for a dog.  Phoebe is older, with super curly ears, and she does not behave in a virtuous way.  The 'bone game' is not very fair, and let's be honest, Buster is not the brightest bulb in the dog universe.  However, he has heart, and he wins the game in a very satisfying way at the end.  I love the pictures, and there's lots of them.

If you are in preschool and you feel like being spooked just a little try "Skeleton Hiccups" by Margery Cuyler.  Skeletons are definitely a little scary, but seeing one trying to drink water upside down to get rid of hiccups is hilarious.  You also get to bark along to the silly hiccup sounds.  This one is a good read right before Halloween, which I just know is probably one of your favorite holidays because of all the candy.  I like Thanksgiving, you can probably guess why - turkey bones!