The Bookshelf - Halloween

We love Halloween around here. The minute Target transitions from Back-to-School to Halloween, I grab myself a salted caramel mocha and start wishing for the day when we can make our first visit to the pumpkin patch.  This year, Fall has been, well, hot. And it's super hard to feel totally festive when you're sweating (which is one of the reasons I'm happy we don't live in Florida anymore). We've also had a lot going on, so I'm a little behind with all of my decorating and costume planning.

But with all that being said, we busted out our Fall/Halloween books a month ago, got a couple of new ones, and have been reading them all non-stop. (You can see last year's list here.) Festive books are the best way to help get ya in the mood for the season!

A few of our favorites this year...

Room on the Broom | Ghosts in the House

Vampirina Ballerina | How to Make Friends with a Ghost | The Spider & the Fly

Mostly Monsterly | B is for Boo

We've been watching Room on the Broom almost daily, with It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown thrown in for good measure, and I think I might try to sneak in a little Hocus Pocus (my favorite favorite!) with Zoey this year, I just hope it's not too scary for her. And my little dancer has been just a little obsessed with the book Vampirina, which just came out as a Disney Jr series earlier this month. It's so cute, you guys!

Any favorite Halloween books or movies around your house this year?

The Bookshelf - Summer Reading

Recently, the world marked a super important milestone in my life...the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter. I was in college when this book came out and picked it up at the suggestion of my Children's Lit professor. She was one of my favorite professors and she wasn't wrong. The book was amazing. Harry Potter turned me into a reader. Before Harry came along, I only read when I had to for school, never for pleasure, and I couldn't wait to share the stories with my future students.

Flash forward many...many years, and now I'm patiently waiting for my kids to get a little bit older so I can share the series with Zoey and Beck. For now, we love finding new books at the library and bookstore...we're pretty much book hoarders around here!

dot garland | make believe print 

Here's what we've been reading this summer.

Cats Night Out -- Dancing and counting, two of Zoey's favorite things!  

Love is a Tutu -- A sweet book for any ballerina/tutu-lover.

Iggy Peck, Architect -- We also love Rosie's and Ada's books, but lately, Zoey has been obsessed with Iggy Peck. She's a bit of a builder herself, so I think that's what draws her in. Plus the illustrations are incredible.

The Dark -- Lemony Snicket for the preschooler set. Perfect for your little 'fraidy cat. 

Where the Wild Things Are -- One of my childhood favorites, I love that both my kids pick this one often. Beck is super into the wild things and laughs every time they gnash their terrible teeth and roll their terrible eyes...
Shh! We Have a Plan -- This one is so much fun to read aloud! Zoey knows it by heart at this point, and can read it to Beck from memory.
Should I Share My Ice Cream -- I hope we can all agree that Mo Willems is pretty great. Probably my second favorite children's author (second only to Chris Van Allsburg), and the Elephant and Piggie series...well, I'll just say that every time we see one of these that isn't already in our collection, it mysteriously ends up in our cart. The kids just can't get enough. (And they're fun for the reader, too) This one is perfect for summer and has been on repeat lately.

Like most moms, I don't get to read as often as I'd like, but some nights, I get about 30 minutes after the kids are in bed to chill before it's Netflix time. (We just finished Glow and started Ozark. Have you seen it? So good!) The last book I read, The Kind Worth Killing, was a serious page turner.  It switches narrators, similar to Gone Girl and Girl on a Train (two of my favorites), and is full of twists and turns. Just when I thought I had things figured out, they'd drop a bomb on me. I love books like that!

Right now, I'm about halfway through The Woman in Cabin 10. I've reached the part of the book where I want to just keep reading. It's sitting on the table right now, calling me. I have NO IDEA how this story is gonna play out and I love it! 

What are you reading this summer? I'd love some ideas for my next book!

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Halloween Reads

Well folks, we're f i n a l l y feeling a little Fallish over here in VB - temps in the 60s today, a crockpot full of potato soup simmering in the kitchen, a trip to the pumpkin farm on the agenda, and plans to get a fire going once the sun starts to set...it's not quite fire weather, but Zoey's been asking for days. 

I love this time of year! It marks the beginning of holiday season and largely involves huge quantities of candy...what could be better! 

pjs | chair

As soon as Fall begins. I drag out all of the Halloween and Fall books for the kiddos. Zoey and I have read our favorite, Room on the Broom, approximately 327 times already, and watched the movie on Netflix two or ten times, too. (You can get the dvd cheap here if you're not on Netflix.)

No big secret that I love children's books. Always have. We have books stashed literally in every room of our house and there's always room for more! Zoey, Beck and I spend a lot of time each day reading, so I thought I'd share a list of our favorite Fall/Halloween books. There's a few different levels here (some I've even shared with 3rd & 4th graders in my past life as a teacher), but I can honestly say, that as of this year, I've read them all with Zoey at one time or another. The kid devours books, so if you've got one of those at home, too, this list is for you. Enjoy!

Halloween-y Books for Young Kids

Room on the Broom
The Berenstain Bears & the Spooky Old Tree
Ghosts in the House
Mouse's First Halloween
Mostly Monsterly
I Need My Monster
Goodnight Goon
Halloween Night
Little Owl's Night
Spider and the Fly**
Pete the Cat: 5 Little Pumpkins
Clifford's Halloween
Carl's Halloween
Ten Timid Ghosts
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Baby Lit: Dracula
Baby Lit: Frankenstein
The Hallo-Weiner
Leaf Man
Stellaluna
Click, Clack, Boo!
Little Blue Truck's Halloween

**I wouldn't read this one before bed if you've got a more sensitive kiddo. Spider nightmares, for sure!

There are some great Halloween books for babies, too. A few that Zoey has liked in the past that we're sharing with Beck this year:

Biscuit's Pet & Play Halloween
It's Pumpkin Day, Mouse!
Where is Baby's Pumpkin?
Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin

Do you have any favorites on your list?