Welcome to Perfect Picture Book Friday, Everyone!
As some of you may have noticed, Halloween is coming! 🎃🧙🏿♀️👻
So what better time for a story about a haunted house?
This one is so cute scary! 😊
Title: Hardly Haunted
Written & Illustrated By: Jessie Sima
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, fiction, July 2021
Suitable For Ages: 4-8
Themes/Topics: being yourself, self-acceptance, holidays (Halloween)
Opening: “There was a house on a hill,
and that house was worried.”
Brief Synopsis:House has a problem. The evidence seems to suggest that she might be HAUNTED! How will she ever find a family who wants to make her a haunted home?
Links To Resources: Haunted House Activities for Kids; Haunted Cookie Houses and Black Cat Cookies (and honestly I think you could easily do a haunted house cookie activity using chocolate graham crackers and icing if you don’t want to do all the gingerbread template baking!)
Why I Like This Book: Some kids like scary books. Mine were not in that category! 😊 So this is the kind of perfect Halloween book that I love. It hints at spookiness, and has a little suspense in the story, without being at all scary. After all, no one wants nightmares! The story is told from the point of view of the house, but there’s a delightful little black cat who appears on every page, adding to the story with her reactions. And while the house is concerned about her potential hauntedness, the art is so appealing that it makes her much more endearing than scary. Although this is a story appropriate for the Halloween season with its nod toward spookiness, it is also a story about being who you are and accepting yourself – always something kids can benefit from. Young readers will delight in this story and fall in love with the friendly little house…even if she is haunted 😊
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 😊
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Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! 😊
Susanna Leonard Hill 
What a perfect October story! Though mine’s not actually Halloween related and a black spider in a bowtie & top hat is less scary, these two might be fun to read together. I love cats and am intrigued by the house telling the story. I can’t wait to read this one!
It’s so cute, Maria! The story is sweet, the art so appealing – it takes all the scary out of haunted 😊
Halloween is always a favorite holiday around our house.
And, a cute, non-scary book with heart is perfect!
Looking forward to reading Hardly Haunted!
I hope you love it! It would have been a perfect choice for my crew!
Another great book you gave us to read!. Told from the perspective of the house and the “find the cat” on the pages make this a must-read for younger children this time of the year.
It’s really cute, Bru! I hope you like it!
Ooh! I’ve been reading lots of books about houses & homes lately. I hadn’t heard of this one, but I’m eager to read it. Thank you!
It’s probably a different perspective than other books about houses, Patricia 😊 I hope you like it!
I recently bought this one! Love it!
Isn’t it just right for little kids, Deborah? I love it!
Haven’t found a lot of new Halloween and fall books. My daughter didn’t like scary either. This book sounds perfect and I like that the house tells the story and is a character. Perfect choice to start the contest!
I feel bad for that house! My son’s school makes a haunted house in a classroom every year, and for those too scared to go in with the lights off, they kept the lights on. And some kids didn’t even want to go in then, because just the idea of a haunted house was too scary. But this sounds like a perfect Halloween book even if you’re in the ‘scare-me-til-I’m-shrieking” crowd. And a sweet one for those at the other end of the spectrum.
This sounds like my kind of book. I do NOT like scary things at all. They’re so…. scary. When we first moved into our building, Mom had to carry me past the scary fire extinguisher in the hallway. I have learned it is not scary after all, but last week our neighbor put a scarecrow by her door. #ohdeargod
Love and licks,
Cupcake
I’m a fan of Jessie Sima. Can’t wait to read this one!
This sounds like a sweet story, not scary at all! Like getting candy bars in your goody bag instead of candy corn!
This picture book sounds delightful. What a creative idea for a Halloween story filled with a wonderful theme and cute illustrations.
What a perfect story for the upcoming holiday, Susanna. And I love the illustrations and the title!
This book looks like the perfect Halloween story!