Happy Halloween

The younger child decided to be Ivan, from The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. Not the scariest costume if one knows Ivan, the sweet and adorable gorilla. He had a mask in his Dress Up cubby and had black pants and black shirt, so, the costume was easy enough for him to put together.

The older child decided to trick or treat as a Voodoo Doll. Chopsticks and large pompoms became the pins for this costume which I did not help make at all.

Pumpkins got carved, Jack-O-Lanterns lit, pumpkin seeds roasted, trick-or-treating done in the neighborhood...

Your Skeleton is Showing: Rhymes of Blunder from Six Feet Under by Kurt Cyrus, illustrated by Crab Scrambly is a popular read around this time, as is the old favorite By the Light of the Halloween Moon by Caroline Stutson, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes.

As always, this poem from Halloween Hoots and Howls by Joan Horton, illustrated by JoAnn Adinolfi is the reigning champion:

"Woe is me," the pumpkin said. 

"They plucked me from my garden bed, 

Hollowed all my innards out, 

And with a joyful whoop and shout, 

Carved two eyes, a nose, a grin, 

And stuck a lighted candle in. 

Next they set me on a post 

Where every goblin, ghoul, and ghost, 

Howling, prowling through the night, 

Filled my orange skull with fright." 

"As if that wasn't bad enough," 

The pumpkin grumbled in a huff, 

"They later baked me in a pie, 

And now they're eating me -- GOOD-BYE!"