I love this time of year with the falling leaves, cooler weather, and talk of scary stories! A recent find of mine (at the Mackin Warehouse book sale) was Carl Reiner's
Tell Me a Scary Story.... But Not TOO Scary! The sound effects on the cd make the story come alive for the 2nd and 3rd graders.
In class we talk about how the background music, voices, pictures and text all combine to make the story scary. We felt a little relieved at the end to find out that our imaginations got the better of us, just like the main character.
Of course the
American Chillers series by Johnathan Rand is a hit with the 5th graders. It is amazing how once I showcase this series, they are always checked out. It looked like a feeding frenzy over at the FIC RAN section of the library today.
Another author that capitalizes on tying in state information in a book series is Carole Marsh. Her books use real kids and real places in the mysteries. I introduced fourth graders to these books and I am interested to see how well they like them. They are a great tie in to their state studies in Social Studies. Naturally, the book I happen to share with them in class was
The Mystery in the Twin Cities.
