One of the best parts of being a children's author is building community with other authors and illustrators, which can happen in both expected and unexpected ways. I actually met Kelly Conroy, author of the new picture book Here a Creak, There a Shriek!, when we attended the same high school in Pennsylvania. We lost touch for many years but recently reconnected when we found out we are represented by the same literary agent...even though I'm living on the opposite coast now!
What are the chances we'd reconnect that way? Super slim! But the chances the little ones in your life will connect with the familiar rhythm and rollicking rhyme in this adorably silly and spooky story? Super high!
"Let's explore a haunted farm. Eeek-I! Eeek-I! Oh!"
Here are a few reasons I think kids will love exploring the haunted farm inside the pages of this book:
- The story is set to the rhythm of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm." Familiarity with this nursery rhyme will have kids immediately singing along, especially to the "Eeek-I! Eeek-I! Oh!" refrain.
- The color palette of illustrator Nikolas Ilic -- black mixed with bright colors that fade into darker colors -- really sets the tone. The darkness provides some spook, and the bright colors accentuate the silliness and moments of surprise in the story.
- The rich and rhyming text, full of interesting movement-inspiring words (both adjectives and verbs) provide endless opportunities for using this book not just at home but also during group story times or in creative dance classes.
While exploring the haunted farm, the three main characters in the book encounter scary beasts, a scarecrow's maze, a rusty truck, a spooky forest of twisted trees, and a group of dancing skeletons.
Words like sneak, bend, dash, leap, twisted, floating, crooked, and shaking invite readers to move along with the rhymes and offer a starting point for exploring these words using different body parts and different levels (low to the ground or up on tiptoes), and even through improvisation to expand the storyline if you're feeling adventurous.
One last thing I love about this book is the surprise ending -- which isn't going to be a surprise anymore once I tell you what it is! As the main characters peek inside a spooky barn at the end of the book, they are surprised to find all the creatures they encountered earlier in the book. And they're having a dance party.
Eeek-I! Eeek-I! Oh!
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