This Book Is Haunted

by Joanne Rocklin, JoAnn Adinolfi (Illustrator)

Pickles and glue ...
A pumpkin head, too
Monsters' teeth
A smelly old shoe
All in a pot
For our witch's stew.

Beginning readers will love this collection of scary poems, rhymes, and short tales ... told by a ghost!

Lively words by Joanne Rocklin and bright, funny pictures from JoAnn Adinolfi make this a perfect treat for any time of the year.

Genres: Halloween, Picture Books, Childrens, Holiday, Witches, Humor, Monsters

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

I was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the land of four distinct seasons. The winters are so long!

Wintry days and nights inspired me to read many, many books, the most important thing a writer can do. Of course other seasons inspired me, too! And as soon as I learned to hold a pencil I began writing poems, stories, and diaries.

I have always owned cats (or they have owned me, a cliché, but true!) Coincidentally, all our cats have been authors, and I’ve compiled their writing secrets in the essay “Why Cats Write.”

And I have always lived within walking distance of a library. (O.K. in California, within almost-walking, but driving distance!) I love to read and write, but I also love to talk--especially about writing.

Reviews

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book for my then 6 year old beginner and oh-so-reluctant reader. It is labeled as a level 1 but is definately a level 2 or 3. I recommend it for the talented first grader or average 2nd and 3rd grader. It is a collection of 6 short stories with a Halloween theme. They are not too scary, in fact, my son didn't think they were scarey enough. Anyway, he was happy to read them cos he's a boy, and anything Halloween is going to be interesting to any little boy. He never cared to reread this book though. The illustrations are fabulous. My son spent more time studying them than he did reading the book.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun book of not-so scary short stories that would be great to read at Halloween. The stories don't all make that much sense, but they are short and kind of funny.

The illustrations are good and the book is a good challenge for beginning readers. They could read the stories all at once or just one or two at a time. We enjoyed reading this book together.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good 'spooky' and 'scarey' book without being so scarey that children doesn't want to finish it. Has fun giggly phrases throughout the books. My special needs teen age son laughed throughout me reading this to him.

[Jessica Van Vleet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice book with several short stories in it (1-3 pages each story). Nice big type with words that are easy to read. Fun for Halloween.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story about Sally Bibble is especially disturbing: "They never found her baby sister. Sally Bibble hardly missed her."

[T Crockett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keeping in mind that this is a book for beginning readers, it's one of the best I've read (or had read to me) in that genre. There are a couple twists, plenty of laughs and just the right amount of cute-spookiness for a young crowd. I've seen it enjoyed by kids in preschool through first grade.

[Edward Creter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short collection of funny tales of ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in your face. Kids should gets a spooky laugh from this witty book.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will bring back lots of great Halloween memories.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a bunch of poems (or super short stories if you want to call it that instead) with illustrations. The illustrations are alright and the stories/poems are okay.

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

I was surprised that parents would let their children go out trick or treating on their own in the first poem/story. Then in the second poem I was shocked to read that the baby disappeared and its sibling did not care. The illustration showed that the sibling had a drawing of the baby hinting that that's probably where the baby disappeared to.

My favorite story, or the one that I enjoyed the most, was "Tap, Tap, Tap". It was intriguing and had a nice, surprising ending. Witch's Stew was also quite nice. It was very short, had full page illustrators, and ended with a twist.

[Nadina · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely simple easy to read kids book. This would be perfect for around Halloween. It is children's level spooky, but in a good way. I liked how it was a bunch of different super short stories. The pictures were great too. I liked the mix of rhyming stories and non-rhyming stories. I definitely would recommend this to kids, especially at Halloween.

[Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty blah

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is clearly a story for Halloween time but it is still fun. The book is not haunted however :-P It is a good early chapter book with simple words and is not scary at all. And don't forget your book is due on Oct 31st!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book scores extra points for having a multi-racial cast of characters.

It is a collection of short, scary stories, but they are really not that scary. (appropriate for kindergarteners)

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this early reader six-chapter book with my grandsons--and they read it back to me, again and again. Rocklin's amusing stories make learning to read a fun experience. Cute illustrations, too.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

read with my grandson when he was visiting

[Nancy]

Cute short stories for read alouds during this time of year.