Every Scary Story

Kidsmith is celebrating Halloween in style this month. In addition to our decked-out displays of Halloween-themed picture books and activity books, we've also got a couple things happening for older kids and teens.

FIRST: Readers who like to take a chance can grab one of our bookseller-selected mystery reads from our TRICK OR TREAT YOURSELF display. (If any of you enjoyed our Blind Date With A Book display this February, come in for a second round!) These are some of our favorite wickedly creepy books for middle grade and young adult readers. Don't you trust us?


SECOND: K-12 readers, let us know the name of your favorite scary book, and be entered to win free advance copies of this year's best and scariest MG/YA books! We'll be drawing our winners on Halloween. (Check out the great and various books people have picked so far on the pumpkins all over our display.)

Head back to the tree in the kids' section to find our display!

Even with all this going on, the kids' booksellers still haven't been able to talk enough about some of our favorite recent Halloween-y books. Here are a few more titles that you might want to check out.

Intermediate

OUR FAVORITE: The Nest by Kenneth Oppel. The best horror stories have something true right at the center of them, and this book does that exquisitely. It's about an anxious boy with a sick little brother, being asked in his dreams by sentient wasps to just...maybe...let them...replace...his brother with a better one, a healthier one. Despite the fear factor and the big themes, this one is good for grade-schoolers and parents alike.

MORE RECOMMENDATIONS:
A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano

Took by Mary Downing Hahn
Hoodoo by Ronald L. Smith
The Hollow Boy by Jonathan Stroud

Young Adult

OUR FAVORITE: The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle is the story of a family that, each October, suffers an unusual storm of accidents, from the minor to the fatal. Hiding beneath the cuts, burns, and bruises, the bubble-wrapped tables and the plaster casts, are the bitter secrets of a family--one that has failed to keep itself safe so badly that now, once a year, everything is dangerous. This book gets dark, but its ghostly atmosphere and fiercely devoted characters will draw you through to the end.

MORE RECOMMENDATIONS:
Nightfall by Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski
The Fall by Bethany Griffin
Witch's Boy by Kelly Barnhill


Lastly, for those younger princesses, goatherds, and mighty warriors among you, don't forget to join us on Sunday, October 18th at 2 PM for our PRINCESS IN BLACK party, celebrating the second book in our favorite chapter book series! Feel free to dress up, and look forward to crafts and fun!

The Fall of Summer Reading

We got so many exciting books in this week but my top three are:

1. The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
This book is awesome. It's Harry Potter meets Loki's Wolves with a dash of extra sinister forces. I was completely blindsided by the twist. The series is in great hands.

2. Egg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire
Gregory Maguire writes a book based in Russian Folklore. Yes.

3. Animalium by Jenny Broom
The animal version of last year's Maps. This book is filled with stunning illustrations in a book that's equally as beautiful in its large format.

 

Do you see that? Do you realize what those are? Those are picture books on display. That is a beautiful sight. That many picture books on display means one thing. 

Summer reading is gone. 

Summer reading being gone is indicative of a number of things. One of these is that it's almost Fall and that delights me. Another is that we get to choose some of our favorite picture books and put them up on display for ease of browsing.

Perhaps most importantly, is that this means that some things in the kids section have moved. Why? Because if we're dismantling Summer Reading we might as well shift some things around. 

First, we had the privilege and pleasure of giving Fairy Tales, Mythology, and  Poetry actual space.

See that? It gets a whole case. We have so many beautiful books in these sections this is legitimately exciting. It was tough choosing which books deserved the honor of being displayed.

 

Our addition to this section is the selection of miniature books that has suddenly exploded. They're beautiful but so tiny that they got lost in the picture book shelves. Now they have their own, snuggled nicely between mythology and poetry.

Then we had the exciting, albeit a bit daunting, task of putting out a selection of our Halloween books.

Halloween is my favorite holiday so, I'm pretty psyched to see things for it and feel a little bit more legitimate in the fact that I'm already plotting our details for my costume. We have so many books we still haven't managed to fit everything out.

And, of course, the initial excitement of putting some of my favorite picture books on display. We have a Natasha favorite, Ungerer's Three Robbers. A few Amy favorites (Virginia Wolf, Little Elliot Big City, Numberlys). Some Clarissa favorites (Julia's Home for Lost Creatures, Any Questions). Some great new ones like Otoshi's beautiful new companion to One and Zero: Two. The surprisingly new Dr. Seuss Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories. The beautiful biography Hello, I'm Johnny Cash by G Neri. Even a picture book that Peter likes, Dubuc's The Lion and the Bird.

Basically, all of the picture books you could ever want and that we love.

Another change that I couldn't manage to dive around people to get a picture of (you see what lengths I go to for this blog?) is an awesome shelf beside the Halloween display of some of the boxed sets we carry, it's a great place to check out some gifts.

Things are beginning to change in the Kids section. I mean, it is almost Fall. But this is when things start getting really crazy. When the new exciting new releases come out faster than we can display them or show the proper amount of enthusiasm. When the holidays start coming so quickly that the displays start changing almost weekly.

This is my favorite time of year. Sure, school has started. But that means Summer Reading has come down and that is a sign of all good things.

Well, almost all good things.

That used to be alphabetized.

-Amy

Once Upon a Time...

A scene from The Fairy-Tale Princess: seven Classic Stories from the Enchanted Forest by Su Blackwell.

I have a bit of an embarrassing confession. When I was a kid, I was a fairy-princess for Halloween...multiple times. I still don't quite know what a fairy-princess is...a princess from a fairy tale? Or a princess with wings? All I know is that a fairy-princess costume included a combination of tiara, wand, and satin.

Turns out that fairies - or faeries - are actually related to the earliest Halloween tradition. The Celtics believed that faeries dressed up as beggars on Samhain (what we call Halloween) and went door-to-door asking for food. Those who gave them food were given a reward and those who didn't were punished. Which turned into...trick or treat.

The origins of Halloween are steeped in tradition, in superstition and storytelling and magic. It seems natural that dressing up as characters from fairy tales, one of our oldest types of stories, became part of of how we celebrate the holiday. In the Halloween spirit, here are my recs for some great books about fairy tales.

The bicentennial edition of The Annotated Brothers Grimm was just released, with an introduction by A.S. Byatt and edited by Maria Tatar (who will also be at the Boston Book Festival this weekend, along with the Booksmith). Along with the classics, like Cinderella and Rapunzel, Tatar includes a handful of stories that the Grimms felt were not for children. You could get lost for hours in this book.

A modern take on classic fairy tales, My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me is edited by founder of Fairy Tale Review, Kate Bernheimer, and includes forty short retellings of fairy tales from contemporary writers, such as Kelly Link, Joyce Carol Oates, Michael Cunningham, and Neil Gaiman. The seven dwarfs stuck living together in an apartment in NYC? Yup.

And for a cool bedtime book, I love The Fairy-Tale Princess: Seven Classic Stories from the Enchanted Forest by Su Blackwell. Each story is illustrated with paper cut sculptures of the scenes, with some sculpture even emerging from the pages of books. Paper cut art always blows my mind - just the amount of patience, the detail - and the work in this book is incredible. Recognize the scene above?

Happy Halloween!

costumes. social responsibility.

Correct! It is Halloween. Halloween even here, at the Boooosmith (yardy har har).

It's getting pretty spooky here. Dana flew in this morning, and I haven't been able to make eye contact with her yet. As for myself, I'm not sure which is scarier, my "half dead" costume or the mess at my desk. Sigh. Either way

I've got candy.

at the register.

Apparently it is for customers, and not for me...so help me out and come take it from my line of vision.

Have a happy Halloween- either a quiet night encouraging carbohydrate solicitation , getting dressed up as a promiscuous version of whatever (kitty, nurse, cave woman, fireman, gynecologist) and getting humiliatingly sloppy, or just the usual blood-letting in your local graveyard.

Not every fall book is about goblins and bad little witches...

Halloween is right around the corner! October always goes by way to fast for me, but I can't let it get away without sharing more fall recs with you. I already introduced you to Fletcher, now it's time for Gianna.

Gianna enjoys running through leaves, not collecting them as homework. And, her procrastination habits aren't exactly helping her. But if she doesn't collect all 25 of her New England leaves and identify them, she will not be able to compete in the upcoming track meet. The Brilliant Fall Gianna Z is the quintessential fall book. Kate Messner's imagery of autumn is stunning and her way of describing people through what kind of tree they are is, indeed, brilliant. This book is great to read year round, but even more so in the middle of fall as the leaves change and fall right outside of your window.

More eye catching Halloween and autumnish titles:

Halloween Kid by Rhode Motijo
This western style tale leaves no room for hooligan ghosts, vampires, or werewolves. When non-candy items are being handed out, the kids think that Halloween might be on its way to being canceled for good. Halloween Kid can solve this problem on his own...or, maybe not. Join the Halloween Kid and trick-or-treaters as they band together against menacing goblins to keep Halloween safe for all -- with candy, too.

Ghosts in the House by Kazuna Kohara
This ghost story picturebook is like no other. I'll just say there are no scary ghosts roaming round this story, but this little witch girl has a mind of her own. After she catches these ghosts, she puts them through the washer, hangs them out to dry, and on the story goes. Charming and resourceful, Kohara only uses three colors -- orange, black, and white -- and is very deserving of the 2008 NYT Best Illustrated Book award.

AlphaOops: H is for Halloween by Alethea Kontis
Why is the alphabet always told in the same old format: first the a, then the b, then along comes the c? As long as all of the letters are there, it's still the alphabet, right? Join these letters as they put on a show for Halloween...dressed up in costume to their own costumed themes.

Seed Sprout Pumpkin Pie by Jill Esbaum
Here is a great non-fiction Halloween and autumn book. It's all about pumpkins. This book shows how a pumpkin grows and how different people use them -- from jack-o-lantern carvings, to giant boats, to kitchen delights. It's the whole squash family! "Have you picked your pumpkin?"

Leaves of the Season: Stained Glass Coloring Book by Ruth Soffer
Leaves are beautiful to watch, but what about making your own and hanging them on the window? This book provides a great indoor activity for oneself or a group of friends. It's not just for fall, but every season of the year. With 16 different leaves to color and explore, better go grab your markers!

Happy Autumn!

Fall at the bookstore

Regular readers of our blog may have noticed that posts (at least my own) have been a teensy bit sporadic lately. The reason for this is that we are BUSY! Holy cow, are we busy. I never noticed how much more intense things get at the start of September until this particular September happened. Usually I'd notice the increase in traffic on the road or the lack of parking spots around town. But this month it feels like everything is happening everywhere, all at once.

The store is truly bustling. A Wednesday afternoon feels like a Saturday afternoon with phones ringing off the hook, customers lining up and lots of questions in the aisles. Part of the reason for this is our amazing fall event lineup that just got going: Gary Shteyngart and Per Petterson last week, William Gibson tomorrow night, and Michele Norris of NPR on Thursday. People are really excited about these authors and tickets are flying out the door. (So call and reserve yours today for our other exciting fall events. Amy Sedaris in November!!)

Obviously, the start of school is also responsible for some of the increase in phone calls and foot traffic. But I've also heard the words "Christmas shopping" uttered in a few of my transactions at the register. You guys are already starting! And I don't blame you. Kerri has brought in a ton of awesome jewelry and bags and fall-oriented home items into the Card and Gift Room. Not to mention cute and goulish Halloween stuff. Yup, it's already that time, too. Yikes. (Seriously? Halloween? Wasn't it just July??)

And don't even get me started on all the new, truly excellent books coming out. Okay, maybe you should get me started since that's the whole point of our store. I'm currently in the midst of Moby Dick, Skippy Dies and The Cookbook Collector and every week I get inspired to read something else that just arrived. There are some seriously good reads on our shelves and we are doing our best to keep those shelves full.

Fall (which officially arrives tomorrow) at Booksmith is exciting and crazy. Come on in and join the fun!