story time with snacks: popcorn by Frank Asch and a last-minute party treat idea!

I like to make a few special treats for the neighborhood kids coming to my house for trick-or-treating.  This year, I am a little crunched for time, so I tried to pick treat recipes that were quick and easy-peasy. These popcorn hands are so simple.  They take minutes to make, and kids love them.  Today, we read a classic Halloween book, Popcorn, by Frank Asch and made some spooky popcorn hands for our visitors.  

Popcorn is sure to get some giggles from the little bears in your life.  Bear decides to invite all of his friends to a Halloween party at his house.  Each guest is asked to bring a snack to share, and every one just happens to bring corn kernels for popping. Bear puts all of the kernels in a giant pot and underestimates how much popcorn will come from the kernels.  Pretty soon, the entire house is filled with popcorn!  

If you want to make your own popcorn hand treats, you will need:

• clear plastic gloves
• your favorite candy (we used skittles, but m&ms or candy corn would be great too.)
• popcorn
• ribbon

  The candy goes in the fingers first to look like finger nails.  Then stuff the glove with popcorn.  You may have to crush the kernels a little bit to get it into the finger sections.  Tie it closed with the ribbon. That's it!  Don't you just love something that looks more impressive than it was to make?  I do! I do!  

one witchy witchy reading list

From the looks of my living room mantle, it is officially Halloween decorating time!  I take holiday decorating way more seriously than I should, and one of my favorite pieces is this poster of an old photograph or women dressed as witches. Putting it on display inspired me to gather some of my favorite Halloween tales with a witchy theme. 

• Only a Witch Can Fly by Alison McGhee and Taeeun Yoo

This artful story features a young witch who yearns to take her first flight but learns that flying isn't always easy.  The pictures have a wood-blocked quality and a seasonal color palette of black, orange, and green, creating a very Halloween mood.  The words to this tale are written in a poetic form called a sestina.  In this form, certain lines are repeated throughout the poem.  But don't let that turn you off thinking poetic forms are too much for a children's book.  The rhyming lines of this story are wonderfully engaging for young readers.  ages: 3+

• Old Black Witch! and Old Black Witch and the Polka Dot Ribbon by Wende and Harry Devlin      

Wende and Harry Devlin were artists and writers of children's books in the 1950s, and their Old Black Witch series was incredibly popular.  I am embarrassed to say that I didn't know about the Devlins until a few months ago.  Since discovering them for myself, I have collected as many of their books as I can!  We read Old Black Witch last week, and it passed the test of entertaining both my older child and toddler, although it was almost too wordy for my three year old.  It is the story of a mother and son who want to open a tea room in a charming New England town.  They buy an old, run-down house as a fixer-upper.  When they start cleaning, they find an little witch lives there, and she's not too happy to see them get rid of her cobwebs and rats.  In the end, everyone learns to work together and live peacefully under one roof, and Old Black Witch even cooks her famous blueberry pancakes for tea room guests.  ages: 4+ (my 3 year old did sit through most of it and was interested in the story, but got restless towards the end.)

• Humbug Witch by Lorna Balian

This is a classic and sweet story written in the 1960s about a little girl parading through the house in her witch costume, doing her best to conjure up some potions and magic.  Preschooler readers will love this!  ages: 2-5

• Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

Julia Donaldson is the wonderful creator of The Gruffalo character.  He books are always playful rhyming romps that kids go crazy for.  Room on the Broom is no exception.  A witch keeps losing her hat while flying on her broom.  Every time she lands to retrieve it, another animal friend asks for a lift on her broomstick.  By the end of the flight, the broomstick is loaded with all of her animal friends. ages: 3+

•   The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Spear

Most of my witchy list has appealed to a younger audience, so here is one for the YA lovers (upper elementary and beyond).  This Newbery award winner is the story of a young girl named Kit living in Colonial America during the time of the witch trials.  Kit is an outsider in her village, and she befriends a fellow outsider named Hannah.  When Hannah is accused of witchcraft, Kit must choose between her only friend and her own safety.  This story can get intense, so this is definitely a book I would save for fourth graders and up.  It is so worth it though!  Not only does is teach the reader about a time in our country's history, but it is a story that explores themes of morality, diversity, and strength of character.  ages: 10+

Only 24 more days until Halloween!  Better get your broomsticks ready.