Mother Ghost

 Mother Ghost: Nursery Rhymes for Little Monsters

by Rachel Kolar, illustrated by Roland Garrigue

I love creepy rhymes, as demonstrated in my video review of Your Skeleton is Showing. Twists on Mother Goose rhymes are always engaging because most kids know what the original rhyme is, so they can appreciate the satire.

My son and I read this all the way through, then talked about our favorites and went back to re-read them. I could see using these as quick breaks for use in the school library, though. They're fun to read aloud and can be shared without having all of the students sit and listen to an entire story. It'd be fun to recite them before and after books during the week leading up to Halloween. Make sure you share the illustrations for each, though - they're so cute!

Petrifying Parodies

Last year I reviewed Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex as one of my three favorite Halloween books (see the video HERE). This year I was browsing the library shelves when I found The Runaway Mummy, also by Michael Rex! These books were published in 2008 and 2009 resepctively, so I'm a bit late to the party, but they're such fun reads! My son and I had a good time reading the original stories first (as we do a few times throughout the year), and then read the petrifying parodies in October.

Goodnight Goon is a parody of Goodnight Moon, with a little monster boy saying goodnight to various creepy things around his tomb. I'm not a big fan of the original Goodnight Moon (I know, gasp! What kind of mother am I, etc) but I do like this version with monsters and creepy crawlies added in. I really like that Michael Rex has made the illustrations look classic, like they could have been the original illustrations.

The Runaway Mummy is by far my favorite. I love The Runaway Bunny in its original form, so I was really looking forward to the spooky adaptation. A boy mummy is trying to leave his mummy behind by changing into a sea serpent, gargoyle, and more, but his mummy always changes into something else to be near him. This one has a really great twist ending that made me chuckle, making it my favorite of the parodies.

These are fun books to read for Halloween because kids can compare them to the originals, if they already know them. If not - read them aloud and then compare and contrast! Activities like saying goodnight to everything in your child's room can be easily adapted to go along with Goodnight Goon, and thinking of spooky things to turn into with your child is a fun way to continue the story of The Runaway Mummy.

The Willoughbys

Plot Summary
The four Willoughby children aren’t big fans of their parents… but thankfully, their parents don’t care much for the children, either! The parents plot to leave the children behind, and meanwhile - the kids are plotting to get rid of the parents! Along the way comes a nanny, an abandoned baby, and a rich old man. This book is a delightful parody of those pitiful old orphan tales.

Personal Response
I thought this book was really funny; it reminded me a lot of Roald Dahl’s work - maybe more parody in this book, compared to Dahl’s flat-out silliness. I’ve read a lot of Lois Lowry books before, but this one was unlike any others by her. That’s not to say I didn’t like it… It was an interesting book and made me smile, and the illustrations (also done by Lowry) were cute and added to the story. I especially liked the glossary at the end of the book defining some of the stranger terms used.

Reviews & Awards
Starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Booklist, who also said “Sly humor and a certain deadpan zaniness give literary conventions an ironic twist, with hilarious results.”

Read it for yourself!
Lowry, Lois. 2008. The Willoughbys. Boston: Walter Lorraine Books. ISBN 9780618979745