Happy last Perfect Picture Book Friday before Halloween, everyone!
I apologize for the late post – family situation hopefully now under control!
Before I share my Perfect Picture Book for today, I just want to mention (apologies in advance for shouting out my own book) that I am honored that Beth Stillborn has very kindly showcased ALPHABEDTIME for her PPBF today, and there’s a little Mystery Interview to go along with it, which I may or may not have had something to do with 😊 I hope you’ll hop over and visit her because she did this specially!
Now, that that dreadful commercial interruption is over 😊, I have a delightful story to share with you today – deliciously scary for Halloween! 😊🎃🧙♀️👻 If you have a sensitive or easily frightened little one, have a look at the illustrations below so you can judge if it’s a good choice for your little pumpkin.
Title: I Want To Be In A Scary Story
Written By: Sean Taylor
Illustrated By: Jean Jullien
Publisher: Candlewick, July 2017, fiction
Suitable For Ages: 2-5
Themes/Topics: humor, scary vs. funny, interactive story (between main character and narrator)
text copyright Sean Taylor 2017, illustration copyright Jean Jullien 2017, Candlewick
Opening: “Hello, Little Monster.
What do you want to do today?
Can I be in a story?”
text copyright Sean Taylor 2017, illustration copyright Jean Jullien 2017, Candlewick
Brief Synopsis: Little Monster wants to be the star of an utterly terrifying scary story. But scary stories . . . well, they can be very scary — especially for their characters! Especially if they involve dark forests and creepy witches and spooky houses . . . Oh boy! Maybe a funny story would be better after all!
text copyright Sean Taylor 2017, illustration copyright Jean Jullien 2017, Candlewick
Links To Resources: how about a “scary” game of hide ‘n’ seek? Hide, and when the seeker gets close, pop out and say, “BOO!”; make up a scary story of your own and tell it to your family or friends in a spooky voice; talk about what makes something scary – different things scare different people – and whether you like to be scared (some people do!) or not (some people don’t!)
text copyright Sean Taylor 2017, illustration copyright Jean Jullien 2017, Candlewick
Why I Like This Book: This book is just the right amount of scary for young readers who like a little scare. Little Monster is adorable (definitely not scary 😊), and like all youngsters, sometimes what he thinks he wants turns out not to be exactly what he wants. He asks the author to put him in a scary story. The author cautions him that perhaps a funny story would be better, but Little Monster is sure! He wants a SCARY story! So the author puts him in a dark and terrifying forest. And, um, that’s a little too scary! As the story continues, the author keeps complying with Little Monster’s wishes and the story gradually becomes less and less scary until it ends up funny, a complete turn-around of what Little Monster originally asked for. But he also turns the tables on the author, which is where much of the humor comes from. The story is a little scary (maybe not for kids who are easily frightened, and maybe not the best choice for bedtime 😊 depending on your child) but it is also a story that explores setting boundaries and feeling safe within them – Little Monster is always in control and can change the rules so he knows he’s never really in danger, and it is a story after all! For writers, this is a fun title to examine. It is written completely in dialogue, and is interactive in that it is a conversation between the author and the main character.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 😊
For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.
PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific blog links (and any other info you feel like filling out 😊) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! 😊
Susanna Leonard Hill 
Congratulations on your new book Susanna! It looks delightful!!
Lindsey McDivitt
Thank you so much, Lindsey!!! 😊
This sounds like a perfect scary-sweet Halloween story! I love the illustrations, with all those eyes. Thanks for the scary-sweet rec, Susanna!
And yes, I’m heading over to Beth’s right now to check out your mystery interview!
There’s a terrific read-aloud of this book on YouTube with British voices and the Little Monster is so cute 😊 Thanks for coming over to Beth’s! We had a lot of fun putting that post together hehehe 😊
Great choice for PPBF! Heading over to Beth’s too!
Glad you like it, Jules! And I’m sure you’ll recognize the Susanna and Beth high jinx and shenanigans over there – put the two of us together and you get silly 😊
Oh, I love your Halloween share. Wished I had seen it when I sent one to a young grandchild. Heading over to read Beth’s review.
So glad you like it, Pat! I’ve been holding onto this one for a while because I thought it was such a good choice for Halloween time, but it’s a cute book for any time! Thanks for heading over to Beth’s! I hope you enjoy our ridiculous sense of humor 😊
Wonderful Halloween story! Just the perfect amount of scary. And I love little monster! Thanks for featuring it.
My pleasure, Maria! I love the whole book – Little Monster, the art, the all-dialogue telling of the story, and the negotiating 😊
Congrats Sean and Jean! Your story looks delightfully scary!
It’s very cute, Charlotte!
This looks like a LOT of fun. I will definitely check it out. Thanks for telling me about it.
You’re welcome, Rosi! I hope you like it!
Great story suggestion, Susanna! And I’m excited for your appearance on Will Write for Cookies tomorrow…do you know you are the ONLY person to be featured THREE times!!! Yes! And since I really got my inspiration to seriously write for children after visiting YOUR blog more than 10 years ago, it seems exactly right, don’t you think? 🙂 🙂 😉
I’m so glad you like I WANT TO BE IN A SCARY STORY, Vivian 😊 I am looking forward to Will Write For Cookies tomorrow as well! I can’t believe I’m the only one to be 3 times – everyone will be sick of me! 😊 And Halloweensie opens tomorrow too! What a day!
No one would ever be sick of you…and I even included the links for those previous posts…November 2013 and July 2017…because your posts were so chock full of important insights.
And hurray for Halloweensie! I’ll be thinking of you…and eating chocolate. And I hope you will be eating chocolate, too, to keep up your strength reading all the entries.
Who does not want to be in a book! What a delight for preschool story time! Thanks.
I know, right?! I’m glad you like it, Robin!
Great choice for a Halloween weekend !
I’ll be “hopping” over to Beth’s too! 🙂
Happy Halloweensie!
This is a perfect book for halloween! I can’t believe I haven’t come across it – yet.
This sounds like an interesting book, Susanna. I enjoyed reading your thoughts about it. I’ll have to have a look for it.
Thanks for linking to the post about your own book. It sounds delightful. I so enjoyed the interview.