Blog Tour: The 13 Days of Halloween

Title:   The 13 Days of Halloween

Author:  Carol Greene

Review Copy Provided by:  Sourcebooks

About the Book:  "On the first day of Halloween my good friend gave to me: a vulture in a dead tree."

Everyone knows "The Twelve Days of Christmas," but are you ready for The Thirteen Days of Halloween? In this delightfully offbeat story, a dashing ghoul tries to win his ghostly love's heart with heaps of hilarious gifts ranging from broomsticks and bats to cauldrons and cats!

My Review:   First and foremost I love the illustrations in this book!  They are just so unique.  Tim Raglin does a great job of creating the characters in this sing-along.  From the ghosts to the goblins, each is individual, even if they look alike.  Children will enjoy just looking at the pictures and pointing out all of the characters that have been talked about.  Each time I read it, I find something new and surprising in the illustrations.

This is a new spin on an old song, The 12 Days of Christmas.  Most older children will be familiar with that at least, and will in turn be able to sing along with this one.  Younger children, may not know the other song, but have possibly heard it.  Either way, they will love the sing-song feel and will be joining in after the first reading. 

This is a great book to teach numbers from 1-13, counting on, adding 1, and sets.  I can see classes creating their own 13 days using other Fall or Halloween objects.  What fun!  I can also see this book being acted out by classes, either by becoming the characters, or creating a sound for each character as the teacher reads.  The ending leaves you hanging, which opens children up to using their imaginations and being creative.  This book could be used in many different ways in the classroom, for many teachable moments. 

I love books that are spin-offs of other books or songs.  They are easy for children to relate to, because they can make those connections that good readers make: text to self, text to text, and/or text to world.  When children can connect new learning to something else, it makes it much more meaningful for them.