I love holidays – the season, the decorations, the books… When my kids were young, I’d take them to the public library before each holiday and encourage them to check out seasonal books. I also purchased some of my favorites and created my own personal collection. After each holiday, I boxed the books along with the decorations. It helped maintain the allure of the seasonal books. When we unpacked them the following year, it was like an old friend had come home to roost.
Now, I send holiday books to my grandchildren, so they can build their own collection. Plus, it gives me an excuse to peruse the latest publications. I admittedly have a weakness for children’s books, as evidenced by my overflowing bookshelves.
My kids grew up on the Berenstain Bears books. There were lots of Halloween books in the series, but our all-time favorite was Spooky Old Tree, which actually didn’t have any connection to Halloween. Nonetheless, it had “spooky” in the title, so we read it along with the rest. We were impressed when our oldest son volunteered to read it to us. Wow. We patted ourselves on the back and boasted about his early reading skills…until we realized that he’d simply memorized the words.
Some of my latest acquisitions are The Itsy Bitsy Pumpkin, The Spooky Wheels on the Bus, Goodnight Goon, The Night Before Halloween, Five Little Pumpkins, Room on the Broom, and Hoot, Howl, Halloween. The younger kiddos like the illustrations and singsong rhythm of the text. I’ve gotten some joke, National Geographic (creepy crawly animals), and activity books for the older kids. But now, my grandkids are aging, and I need to explore the next level of books. Geronimo Stilton? Goosebumps? Any recommendations?
