Tag Archives: Costumes

Elem. -A Super Scary Narwhalloween

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Clanton, Ben. A Super Scary Narwhalloween. Tundra, 2023. 978-0-735-26674-2. unpaged. $12.99. Grades K-3.

Narwhal and Jelly are off on a new adventure–this time for Halloween! Narwhal is excited for Halloween, but Jelly isn’t so sure. He likes dressing up and the treats… but isn’t excited about the scary stuff. When Narwhal dashes off to create his costume, Jelly is left alone and uncertain without his best buddy around.  His uncertainty turns to fear as sea animals dash by telling of a huge, spiked, fanged, HUNGRY sea monster. Challenging Narwhal, Jelly Superifies his pod of friends, who follow his lead in the inevitable a monster encounter. Not surprisingly, the monster is no monster at all–just Narwhal caught in his costumes!

THOUGHTS: Narwhal, plus Halloween. This book is destined to fly off the shelves, just as the other Narwhal and Jelly adventures tend to do, even when Halloween isn’t around the corner. As with the other Narwhal stories, in addition to this one, the book includes fun facts about bats and scary ocean creatures as well as a bonus waffle comic. Ben Clanton continues to offer growing readers a lot in his Narwhal series.

Graphic Novel 

Elem. – Dress-Up Day

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Gomez, Blanca. Dress-Up Day. Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2022. Unpaged. $17.99 978-1-4197-4410-5. Grades PK-2.

A little girl is excited about the upcoming costume day at school. She plans to wear a rabbit costume that she helped her mother make. But on the day of the costume party, she wakes up sick and must miss school. When her mother suggests she wear the costume the next day, the girl embraces the idea–until she arrives to see inquisitive, staring, possibly mocking faces of other children. The arrival of another student–in costume–“Hugo…had been sick the day before…and he was dressed up as a carrot”–entices the girl out to play. Soon, the other children ask to join, and by the end of the day, “Hugo had become my best friend.” And when, on the next day of school, Hugo and the little girl arrive to find everyone but them wearing hats, another student offers hers, and the fun continues. Gomez’s illustrations convey an innocence and hopefulness of the children, who are of varying skin tones and fashion styles, and who are open to changes. 

THOUGHTS: Share this book as an encouragement to readers to try something new and accept something new as well.  

Picture Book          Melissa Scott, Shenango Area SD