children’s librarians | Musings of the Monster Librarian

Pumpkins and Skeletons: Booklist’s Suggestions and Classroom Connections

A fresh look at Halloween is always intriguing, and Booklist’s October 15 suggestions are really kind of fun. A librarian who emailed us recently told us a children’s librarian who used our Halloween List for Kids found many books to promote for Halloween that were already in her collection, that she hadn’t even thought of. And Booklist made some suggestions here that really extend the connections Halloween has to nonfiction topics outside the picture books and the 398’s (that’s folklore and fairy tales, for those not intimately familiar with the Dewey Decimal System). Joke books, poetry, and intermediate level spooky mysteries pepper their list of suggested titles published in the current year. What’s most interesting, though, that if you scroll down past that list, you’ll find their suggestion that a time of year that traditionally includes skeletons and blood could be extended into displays, programs, or lessons about, well, skeletons and blood (as well as other parts of the human body). I love this idea! And it’s even linked to lesson plans.

I’m sad to report that my son’s elementary school will not have a Halloween party or Halloween parade… no mention of Halloween at all, as far as I can tell. It’s a first for me. as I’ve never actually not experienced this, as either a kid, school librarian, or parent. Just look at all the ways to incorporate the trappings of the holiday into engaged learning experiences! Please, don’t be afraid to invite the holiday in. Your kids will love you for it, and learn from it as well.

School Librarians, Children’s Librarians, and Teachers- What Will You Do For Halloween?

I know you already know what your lessons and programs will be- I had to plan months in advance when I worked in the public library and in the schools (why yes, I did work in both). For October, for the little ones, I had programs on bats and pumpkins and owls. For kids a little older, I made Jell-o brains and did programs on monsters… and for upper elementary, I told scary stories, with the lights out. Fourth and fifth graders like to think they are so cool, and they’ll tell you they are scare-proof, but High Beams scared them stiff and Tailypo mesmerized them. If they’d been a little older, I would have loved to do a reading of the Tell-Tale Heart.

So already this year I have gotten a call from my son’s school, where they were concerned because he kept asking for books about monsters and didn’t want the non-scary, age-appropriate suggestions he was given. And when they talked about school parties Halloween was not one they mentioned. Valentine’s Day, sure, but not Halloween. I hope they just overlooked it. It is such a great opportunity to get kids involved in art projects, practicing listening and speaking skills (I’ve taught storytelling to third graders), measurement (my son is obsessed with Halloween cookbooks, and you’ve got to be able to measure to cook).

One of the coolest places we get hits from here is a lesson plan from a education website, and that always brings us extra visitors at this time of year. And here’s a site that just linked to us as a good place to come to build literacy skills. There is a place for Halloween and for a good scary story in the classroom or library. How do you incorporate these into your lesson plans or library programming? If you send me your plans, I’ll post them on the site for other teachers and librarians to find.

Thanks!