My five-year-old friend is planning to be Jane Goodall for Halloween. She has her khaki pants and miniature binoculars ready. She even requested that I make a chimpanzee suit for her favorite doll, so the doll could come along as part of the costume. How could I refuse? Last year this same young girl, at … Continue reading
Halloween seems to get bigger every year. While I’m saddened to see the free-range trick-or-treating of my childhood wane, I still love the imagination with which so many young people (and their parents!) embrace the season. And, of course, in my household full of black cats, I need to put up a few appropriate decorations. … Continue reading
The biggest pumpkin ever grown in Michigan weighed in at over 2000 pounds. It must have been a pumpkin like that that inspired Wendell Minor’s How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow? This is a story to delight and inspire any pumpkin lover’s imagination. Minor starts with an image of a typical festival-winning giant pumpkin, then … Continue reading
Every October, I look forward to the Halloween picture book display at my local bookstore, hoping to find something new to tickle my imagination. This year did not disappoint. This year I discovered Ginny Goblin. Ginny is the star of Ginny Goblin is Not Allowed to Open This Box, a delightful tale of a curious … Continue reading
I’m always on the lookout for good, non-gory Halloween fun. This year I found it in Aaron Reynold’s Creepy Pair of Underwear! Why is young Jasper Rabbit afraid of his underwear? Just because they glow ghoulish green, and keep reappearing unexpectedly, that’s no reason to worry, right? Jasper isn’t sure. There is so much to … Continue reading
Every year I tell myself I’m going to post spooky October suggestions in time for teachers to actually use them–and this year, finally, I’m going to do it. At least in the U.S., schools in October are full of pumpkins and ghosts and all things Halloween. Since the time of creepy obsession is upon us, … Continue reading
Halloween is almost here, and along with creative opportunities for scary story writing (see here and here), come some silly-story options as well. I’ve written previously about Halloween parodies of favorite tales. I also love the story of Delia the witch in It’s Raining Bats and Frogs. When Delia is frustrated by rain on the … Continue reading
I always seem to think about scary-story writing at Halloween time—when it is too late for many teachers to get it into their planning. If you want some tips for writing traditional spooky stories, see the link above. But, early for a change, let me also introduce another variation of the genre: two-sentence horror stories. … Continue reading
creativiteach 