Happy Friday, Folks!
Wednesday is the opening of the 15th Annual Halloweensie Contest! (If you haven’t written your entry yet, click on that link to read the guidelines and get right to it – there’s still time! 😊 And the prizes are so worth it!!! )
I totally can’t wait! I’m SOOOO looking forward to reading all of the stories you’ve written which I am sure, based on past experience, will be absolutely fabulous!
Since we all have last-minute writing to get to, I will jump right into today’s Perfect Picture Book, which is technically a board book – a lift-the-flap, actually! – but is so cute I couldn’t resist sharing it. Plus, I really wanted something Halloween for today, since it’s the last PPBF before that spooky night! 😊 Also, my grandkids simply cannot get enough of this absolutely perfect book 😊
Oh! But first – real quick – we have a giveaway winner from last week! And the winner of a signed copy of Janice Milusich’s beautiful I Hear The Snow, I Smell The Sea is. . .
Laura Roettiger!!!
Congratulations, Laura! Please email me with your snail mail address and who you’d like the book signed to so I can get your book to you!
Now! Halloween story perfection! 😊
Title: Little Blue Truck’s Halloween
Written By: Alice Schertle
Illustrated By: Jill McElmurry
HMH Books For Young Readers, July 2016, fiction
Suitable For Ages: 2-5
Themes/Topics: Holidays (Halloween), costumes
Opening: “Little Blue Truck
and his good friend Toad
are going to a party
just down the road.
“BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!”
says Little Blue.
“It’s Halloween!”
You come, too!“
Brief Synopsis: It’s Halloween! Little Blue Truck is picking up his animal friends for a costume party. Lift the flaps to find out who’s dressed up in each costume! Will Blue wear a costume too?
Links To Resources: make your own lift-the-flap: draw an animal, then, on another piece of paper, draw the same animal disguised in a costume. Paste the costume picture over the animal picture, fastening only the top so you can lift it. See if your friends can guess who it is, then let them lift the flap to see if they’re right!
Why I Like This Book: As you probably all know, I am a fan of Little Blue Truck 😊 So I was of course thrilled to discover his Halloween adventure! This is a sturdy board book with lift-the-flaps. On each page, Alice Schertle’s trademark catchy rhyme is a joy to read aloud, and one of Little Blue’s animal friends is dressed in costume…and you can lift the flap to discover who it is that’s dressed up. It’s a story, it’s Halloween-y, it rhymes, it’s a guessing game, and it’s full of surprises. Does it get more fun than that? Why yes! Because it’s just possible that Little Blue has a costume too! But you’ll have to read the book to find out 😊 Beautiful fall colors and a whole cast of woodland trick-or-treaters are featured in the illustrations. All around, a delight!
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 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!
Now! Last minute finishing touches on your Halloweensies and I will see you all on Tuesday for Tuesday Debut and then on Wednesday for the Halloweensie festivities!!! 😊
Have a great weekend, everyone!😊
Susanna Leonard Hill 
Okay, you have motivated me to make a lift-the-flap animal with costume. How cute and to think they are all going to a party! What fun. Thank you Susanna for sharing this bootiful board book! 🎃
It’s really so cute, Robin! As a writer, it’s a perfect example of how to write something that is just right for the age group!
Perfect Halloween story! I love Little Blue Truck, too. I love the peek at the costumes you offer. What a perfect #PPBF choice for this time of year!
It is so cute, Maria! I love all the Little Blue Truck books, but the original, this one, the springtime one, and the bedtime one are my favorites. Although, that is practically all of them so. . . 🙂
Granddaughter 1 is obsessed with Little Blue Truck, too. I know she’ll love this one!
Oh, she absolutely will, Patricia! I think I’ve read it approximately one million times 🙂
What a clever sweet idea! No wonder kids can’t put it down. A little mystery on each page!
It is so cute and cleverly done, Kim, and yet so simple and so accessible. It is just perfect!
Now you have me trying to figure out how to make an actual lift-the-flap costume! Would I need a back flap too? Haha!
I miss the illustrator, Jill McElmurry. Her beautiful work is forever with us but she was a wonderful person too!
You only need a back flap if you’re going to turn around 🙂 Unless you don’t care if your undies show 🙂 And I know. Jill was amazing. The new art is similar but not quite the same.
How did I NOT think of this?
I know, right? Why is it other authors seem to come up with ideas we should have thought of???!!! 🙂
Everyone loves Little Blue Truck! And this adventure looks sooo sweet! Even the littlest of littles would find this Halloween story huggable, not scary!
The Little Blue Book Halloween is so good it is missing from the library. “It’s supposed to be here.” The librarians looked high and low, even on the return cart. I have a hold on it and hopefully I’ll get it in time to make my animal with costume! ♥️
Good luck!
I have always loved Little Blue Truck! The kids (my grandson and School kids) love Little Blue Truck too!) 🩵💙
The perfect gift for my newest little grand! And, perfect for this ‘almost Halloween’ Friday. Thanks, Susanna. Looking forward to the contest 🙂 It’s always great fun and full of wonderful entries. (I’ve had the privilege of reading a number of them already!)