Monday, October 31, 2011

Halloween in the Library!



Ms. Bruce reads from A Tale Dark and Grimm
Halloween festivities kicked off Monday, Oct. 24 and finished on Halloween itself.  Every day at 10:00 a.m, the Middle School Nook was packed with students who came to hear stories that are inexplicable, spooky, and just plain fun.

They learned about the Curse of King Tut's Tomb. They heard The Golden Arm and The Hitchhiker from Lynne Brunelle's Campout: The Ultimate Kids' Guide.  They were read to from Adam Gidwitz' A Tale Dark and Grimm, which tells the real (and bloody) stories behind the fairy tales we know.  They heard a segment from Sid Fleischman's Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini.

Halloween Monday we finished with a classic: Two stories from Alvin Schwartz' Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark series.
Ms. Clarke reads a campfire story

One student listened in silence, her eyes growing larger and larger, to Schwartz' tale High Beams.  At the story's end, she gave a shudder and declared, "that story was so CREEPY!"
 
   
Students examine the Mysteries display board

The fun began with a Mystery-themed display. Students lifted flaps on the board to reveal questions and quotes from classic mysteries.
































Here are some of our Halloween favorites:

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead
Who is sending Miranda strange notes and instructions?
"The trip is a difficult one.  I will not be myself when I reach you." - p. 60



 




 The London Eye Mystery, by Siobhan Dowd
How can someone go for a ride on a Ferris wheel...
...and not get off?
"He defied the law of gravity.  He went up, but he didn't come down.  Which means Newton got it wrong." - p. 62

 





The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Who will solve the mystery laid out in Samuel W. Westing's will, thereby inheriting the fortune?
"Who were these people?... They were mothers and fathers and children.  A dressmaker, a secretary, an inventor, a doctor, a judge.  And, oh yes, one was a bookie, one was a burglar, one was a bomber, and one was a mistake." - p. 6




Check out more in Destiny: click "Resource Lists", then "READING - Mysteries" or "READING - Halloween"