The Headless Horseman Rides Tonight

By Jack Prelutsky

(1980) ISBN 1404610340

For readers, and yes, including those in the tween group, who want to get scares, laughs and some fun poetry at the same time, this will fit the bill.  There is a wide range in the source of the horrors ranging from the Mummy, Zombies, the Abominable Snowman, and some just regular ghosts, ghosts with national identities like the Banshee and not to be overlooked, the Headless Horseman promised in the title of this book.

The author and the illustrator Arnold Lobel  work well together in not merely creating scares but with the use of the asides in the text and the comic side of the illustrations, to move the reader beyond the regular level of horror story terror.  The reader is scared with the use of the story telling it is true but the main point of the author and illustrator seems to be a careful cautioning of readers as well as pointing out that ultimately there is always the possibility of survival beyond these fun, fun scares.  Hopefully readers will read these poems with some company present.

Howl’s Moving Castle

By Diana Wynne Jones

(2005) 9781421500911

Reading the first volume of this tale will be so enjoyable and intriguing that many readers will be unable to resist the three volumes that complete this story.

We start with a heroine, Sophie, who considers herself destined for a routine and uninteresting future.  Sophie however is highly mistaken in this assessment.  In fact, the wicked Witch of the Waste feels that Sophie is such a threat that she turns Sophie into an old woman.  This witch is influenced in part by her suspicion that Sophie has had some contact with Howl, the wizard that the wicked witch is trying to hunt down.  In this first installment, the reader is made aware that Howl has had to be quite cleaver to escape several pursuers already.  To find out whether Howl and Sophie prevail, tune to the complete four volumes of this work.

The Shadow Door/ The ElseWhere Chronicles

By Art Bannister

(2009) ISBN 9780761339632

When the neighborhood recluse, Old Man Gabe, dies, Noah, Theo and Max, tween friends decide to hang out together and peek into the estate from the safety of the fencing surrounding the grounds.  They observe that final services are being held and when the adopted granddaughter of the deceased is permitted, she being in the same age group decides to join the three boys in exploring the house.

The explorations of these four companions lead to several perilous encounters with some monsters and most frightening of all, these creatures are made of shadows.  While our brave foursome does manage to save themselves they find out that it is only when they travel to the other side of the Shadow Door and obtain the tools they need to survive.

The text in this graphic novel is quite entertaining due to the writing quality and good plotting and it is also great fun to look at the art work.

By the Side of the Road

By Jules Feiffer

(2002) 0786809086

This truly improbable tale will be enjoyable to all willing to step away from our boring everyday logical lives.  Our main character, Richard a young boy, decides that he is not going to back down as his parents ask him to behave during a car trip.  After repeated warnings Richard agrees to be left on the side of the road until the family returns from their errands hours later.  Richard refuses to apologize and one thing leads to another as Richard learns to survive on the side of the road (with of course a lot of help from his family).  Richard even marries and raises his family on the side of the road.  Both the text and the illustrations are very entertaining.

GoGirl 1, The Time Team

By Trina Robbins

(2004) 1593072309

A lively tale of high school girls taking a little side trip to the Jurassic Era thanks to the time machine invention of Doc, the school genius.  It all commences when Heather, a cheer leader non-friend of Doc’s spots the time machine (in the guise of an exercise bike) and touches the wrong buttons.  With this, Doc, Heather along with Lindsay, the GoGirl! Superhero travel back in time and save themselves and make it back by trying something new, cooperation with one another.  And that is how the Time Team gets its start.  This book which it is light and enjoyable entertainment and also provides information about the Jurassic Era and thus does provide both pleasure and educational value for its readers.

Courtney Crumrin and the Coven of Mystics, Vol. 2

By Ted Naifeh

(2003) ISBN 1929998597

In this book Courtney Crumrin engages in a new adventure with much at stack.  She is matched against the most powerful of the warlocks and witches of her town as she, herself a witch, tries to save the life of a newly acquired friend as well as finding the true villain that is responsible for some deaths among the warlocks and witches in Courtney’s group of acquaintances.

Coraline

By Neil Gaiman

(2002) ISBN 9780060575915

Coraline has moved with her parents into a new home, a flat occupying one quarter of an old house and Coraline is quite bored since she has no nearby friends her own age.  She tries to expand her exploratory boundaries but has been instructed to venture no further than the grounds immediately surrounding their home so she therefore intensifies her investigation of the house. 

The first of the two other units house is occupied by someone Coraline decides is a crazy old man after he informs her he is training a mouse circus.  The third unit is occupied by the elderly Misses Spink and Forcible and while Coraline finds these ladies somehow intriguing they do not meet up to her full approval.  They do not seem listening well enough to her name and they blissfully persist in calling her, Caroline.

This characteristic of the neighbors seems ironic.  While the name Coraline is uncommon, with a little practice one can make the adjustment quite well.  However this misnaming actually plays an important part of the story.  It adds to the frustration that Coraline is experiencing and leads her to continue exploring the house until she enters the fourth unit after being told not to even open the connecting door.  It is fortunate for Coraline that the occupants of the third unit even with their annoying habit of misnaming her have nevertheless provided with something that will ultimately enable Coraline to save herself, her parents and to assist three other children.

Coraline’s investigative nature leads to very dangerous adventures when she discovers an alternative world within that fourth unit and a very evil presence known as the “other mother” who tries to destroy Coraline and her parents as they exist.  While Coraline seems initially to be a spoiled young girl she proves herself as a brave, very intelligent and kind-hearted heroine.  By the end of this story Coraline is one of the most likeable characters in recent books and this reader very much recommends this book.

The Cat Who Went To Heaven

By Coatsworth, Elizabeth. ISBN 9780027197105






This is the story of a cat who came to live in the household of a struggling Japanese artist and in the end brought him great luck. At the time that the cat enters the picture, the artist and his housekeeper barely have anything to eat but that does not stop the housekeeper from doing an illogical thing. She brings home another mouth to feed, the cat. The artist who knows better than to go along with this action is nevertheless so kind hearted that the cat stays. With the introduction of the cat into this household it seems that there is a change in the fortunes of this household. The artist is suddenly given an important commission to paint a portrait of Buddha by the local temple. While the artist commences to create his painting carefully and thoughtfully, the cat who may have had something to do with the reversal of fortune for this household, sticks by close to the artist almost begging to be included in the commissioned work. That a cat be included in a portrait of Buddha seems an insurmountable obstacle in that it is was believed that the cat along of all animals refused to accept the teachings of Buddha. The reader will no doubt be profoundly touched by the answer to the question as whether the cat will get his wish. This is a beautifully written and illustrated work. The pictures bring the work of the artist to us, a living canvas as the painting grows and grows. Whoever introduces this book to children does them a profound favor.

The Hobbit

By J.R.R. Tolkien
DVD V0371

We are invited to visit or revisit Middle Earth in another media so we may discover a fantastic place beyond our ordinary world.  Creatures such as hobbits, goblins and dwarfs populate the world depicted in this story.  Audiences of all ages including those of tween age will be fascinated with the differences in habits and customs they will be presented with in either reading this story or viewing it.

The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz Motion Picture DVD

ISBN 1419807730

For our continued pleasure we are presented (in the DVD format) with the adventures of Dorothy and her companions, Toto her dog, and Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion as they journey in the Land of Oz, all four with their individual goals.  This film has never fallen out of favor with audiences and in fact support for it has increased over the years.  With a heroine that has always appeared to be in the tween age range this is a work that would be a natural for this audience.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

By J.K. Rowling

(1997)  ISBN 0590353403

Harry has single handedly increased the number of young readers and for that many in the book business are very appreciative.  The success of this series is well deserved with Rowling’s creation of the memorable characters that populate Harry’s world of witches and wizards.  This book starts by introducing Harry’s terrible excuse for relatives, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia and the descriptions of these two “normal people” were enough to convince the reader that this was going to be a very entertaining book and this level of interest continued throughout the entire book.

As many readers know, it is on Harry’s eleventh birthday that his life changes drastically as he learns that he is in fact an actual wizard and that he is to attend Hogwart’s School of Wizardry.  Harry is delighted to get away from the miserable home he shares with his uncle and aunt.  As Harry works on his lessons and completes his first year at Hogwart’s he finds out that he is not just a wizard but a unique wizard with a higher mission ahead of him although at the end of his first year he is not in possession of the full details.

This has been a unique series and to find something with any degree of similarity is difficult.  One is tempted to bring King Arthur’s Merlin as a companion piece.  The illustrations in this book tend to stay in bit in the background but nevertheless are quite essential to the mood of the book.  They add to the humor of some situations and give the reader good clues as to what some characters and creatures really look like.