Horror story that was read aloud on a PBS type program and someone drew images form the book as it was read. [s]

[Jennifer]

This was a crazy story I remember from somewhere between 1984-1985. I was in third grade when they showed us this, so you would think it was a children's story, but I'm not sure it was. I think I remember it was just a chapter from a book that they illustrated as they read.

Basically, the most vivid image to me was there was a male (I think a young male, possibly pre-teen) who found a human female head in a field, and the adult figure took the head and they put it in a jar. The eyes were closed when they found it, but the boy saw it again, and the eyes were open, and one eye was blue, and the other was green. This is the image they chose to focus on in the illustration, so it made quite an impression and has literally haunted me for twenty-five years now.

[FlowerFairy]

OKay, I know the answer, but can't narrow it down between the two books. LOL It's either "The Ghost Belonged To Me" or "Ghosts I Have Been" both by Richard Peck. These were two of my favorite books when I was a kid (around the same time period you mentioned). I know this happened in one of these books, but not terribly sure which one. It's been a very long time since I read them. I'm leaning more toward "The Ghost Belonged To Me". I know it was most certainly in one of these books because I read them numerous times and that part gave me the shivers every time! :)
http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Belonged-...

http://www.amazon.com/Ghosts-Have-Bee...

[Jennifer]

Ghosts I Have Been triggers memories for me. I will check it out now, thanks! :)

[FlowerFairy]

:)

[Rebecca]

Searching inside Google Books seems to confirm that your book is probably "Ghosts I Have Been".

quote from the snippet view:
"Days before, when the sheriff covered the jar with the sack, the eyes on the lady's head were closed. But when he whipped the sack off, the eyes on the severed head were open, staring into Mama's."

Another line talks about one eye being blue and the other hazel.

[Leela4]

Definitely Ghosts I Have Been.

The show you saw was almost certainly one of the many John Robbins shows: "Cover to Cover", "The Book Bird", "Storybound", "Readit"...

Hey, I found a forum post from 3 years ago with someone asking pretty much what you did! (They didn't get an answer, it just confirms what you remember.) I don't know if links are permissable at GoodReads: http://broszkowski.com/tvokidsforum/v...

[rivka]

Leela4 wrote: "The show you saw was almost certainly one of the many John Robbins shows: "Cover to Cover", "The Book Bird", "Storybound", "Readit"..."

I adored those shows.