Monday, October 31, 2011

Boo!

Best scary book ever for kids? Forget Goosebumps, forget all those YA paranormal novels; I'm voting for Eve Merriam and Lane Smith's Spooky ABC, previously published as Halloween ABC. Here's a phantasmal sample, under G:
Ghost

More gruesome than any groan,
more dreadful than any moan,
most trembling, terrifying sight:
white silence in the dark of night.

I'll give you an art sample, too. If you can't guess what P stands for, it's Pet. Mwa-ha-ha-ha! These poems never fail to give me the shivers. There are scarier ones than "Ghost," believe me you. The cumulative effect is really something, especially alongside Smith's hauntingly off-kilter illustrations.

So, what's your favorite spooky children's book? Leave a comment and let us know.

Happy Halloween!

3 comments:

Catherine said...

This one looks right up my (dark) alley. One of my favorites is Los Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes and illustrations by Yuyi Morales. Also Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, collected by Alvin Schwartz.

Kim Aippersbach said...

I'm going to have to go with Wolves in the Walls, by Neil Gaimon, illustrated by Dave McKean. Also wins for kick-butt heroine, sly, sly humour, and perfection of plot.

Scariest book ever? Gaimon's Coraline.

But then, I might be slightly Neil Gaimon obsessed!

KateCoombs said...

Catherine--Oh, my third graders used to love those Scary Stories, but they were a bit much for me! And Gatos Black is another nice pick.

Kim--Have to agree with you on Coraline. I like Wolves, but I think I prefer Crazy Hair, which has a bit of a fearsome undertone, really.