Wednesday, October 30, 2013

That One Spooky Night by Dan Bar-el, Book Review


By: Dan Bar-El
Illustrated by: David Huyck
Published by: Kids Can Press
Released on: 9/1/12
Source: book from publisher to review
Ages: 5-7
2 Owlets: It Was An Okay Read
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There can only be one night a year when a broom will go in search of a witch, when mermaids might swim in a bathtub and when a house party can get a little too batty. Here are three strange stories about that one spooky night!

A collection of 3 spooky Halloween short stories tied together to create one story that links about to one particular night, HALLOWEEN! One story is about witches, one about monsters and the other about vampires. Our favorite short story was the first one about witches.

Giselle is going as a witch for Halloween. Ready for the night's festivities of trick or treating, she and her mom leave the costume shop only to have Giselle run right into a witch. Things get a little tricky when the two accidentally swap brooms. When Giselle grabs her broom to head out to trick or treat, the broom takes her right into the home of the witch she saw earlier in the day. Giselle realizes this is a nice witch, and she tags along for the night as the witch goes about doing her good deeds for the night. Along with Giselle, readers get to see all the good witches do on Halloween night.

The second story was our least favorite of the two. We weren't a fan of the two brothers who weren't very respectful to their parents. Too bad the monsters whom they meet during their bath don't teach them a lesson in being nice and behaving nicely. The last short story in the book is about a group of girls who dress up to go trick or treating. These three enjoy scaring trick or treaters and exchange their nice costumes for vampire ones to look more like monsters. The tables turn on them when they are invited to a party which is of course hosted by real vampires. You'll have to read the book to find out what happens to them...... if you dare.

The illustrations are fun, and I think kids who enjoy the comic strip style illustrations in books will enjoy it. It's not a book that is too scary for young readers. I think those in third grade and up will find it's not scary at all. If you're young reader enjoys graphic novels with a Halloween twist, this is one you may want to pick up. Over all we weren't huge fans of it, but someone who reads Mundie Kids may totally enjoy this one.

Want to Read Wednesday: The Wee Hours by Stephanie Watson

I'm a sucker for children's books, and earlier this week local TX children's author Cynthia Leitich Smith featured The Wee Hours by Stephanie Watson (see Cynthia's post here).


As you sleep and dream, the Wee Hours appear when the clock strikes one, two, three and four. These delightfully mischievous creatures pull books from your shelves and build towers from your shoes, put on plays behind your curtains and do backflips off your bedposts. As morning draws near, the older hours emerge to tidy up the mess the Wee Hours have made, and carry them off to bed.

Readers ages three and up will enjoy finding numbers, clocks and magical surprises on every page of this enchanting book.


Released on August 27th, 2013 from Disney Hyperion, you can order the book from here. Per Amazon, The Wee Hours is a perfect fit for readers aged 3 years to 6 years of age. Check out the cute book trailer below:


I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~ Anna Quindlen

Good children's literature appeals not only to
the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child.
~ Anonymous ~