Books Inc. Kids Blog

I’m the Scariest Thing in the Castle
By: Kevin Sherry

I’m the Scariest Thing in the Castle, a board; book is our store manager’s favorite book of this Halloween season! (Hmmmm coincidence?! We wonder!) (Ages 1-3)

Reviewed by: A. Ghost, Books Inc. Mountain View 

Monsters Eat Whiny Children
By: Bruce Eric Kaplan

I couldn’t put this down— captivating and funny. Makes me wonder, what am I going to have for dinner?? (Ages 4-8)

Reviewed by: Lisa, Books Inc. Mountain View

Frank was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance

 By: Keith Graves

“…He danced like his shoe size instead of his age.” A Halloween favorite from a few years back, and yes, the author’s real last name is Graves… READ IT AND LAUGH. (Ages 4-8)

Reviewed by: Glen, Books Inc. Mountain View

Can a rabbit be a vampire? Chester, an over imaginative and well-read cat persuades the family dogs Howie and Harold that the newest member of the family is a vampire. Of course, Chester has been wrong before…

Bunnicula is the first in the series that includes The Celery Stalks at Midnight and Howliday Inn; it’s funny, imaginative and full of word play that will delight kids and their parents too. My son and I loved reading these together years ago, it brings back great memories! Ages 8+

Reviewed by: Lisa, Books Inc. Mountain View

What a fun book! Both the poems and illustrations are excellent! Kids AND adults will enjoy the rhymes and humor. I felt it is comparable to Shel Sillverstein’s poetry collections. When I taught elementary school, I wrote music to some of Silverstein’s poems and my students performed a concert of his work.This collection screams for the same adaptation! All the monsters are here, from Dracula to the Mummy and from zombies to the Phantom of the Opera, in a variety of styles and formats. Children will want to read this book on more occasions than just Halloween!

Reviewed by: Darrell from Books Inc. Market St.

Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage

Mo LaBeau doesn’t know who her upstream mother is, but she DOES know that’s she’s lucky. Lucky that the Colonel picked her up off that river bank, lucky that Miss Lana cares for them both, and lucky that she lives in Tupelo Landing, a small town with people that support each other. So when a rash of murders hits the town, Mo finds herself an unlikely detective. It made me think of Because of Winn Dixie (in voice), and the murder mystery in a small town element of the Newbery Winner, Dead End in Norvelt. A charming, quick read that will sate voracious and reluctant readers alike. Ages 9+

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Dead old ladies. A dancing Hells Angel. Bloody noses. A Japanese rifle. There is more excitement, silliness, history and tall-tale telling in this book than should be able to fit in 300 pages. And yet, somehow, it works! Readers get to decide for themselves what’s real and what’s fiction in this tale BY Jack Gantos and ABOUT Jack Gantos as a little boy, in a tiny town called Norvelt. Brilliantly told and rife with humor, there’s a reason this one’s a Newbery Winner. It’s excellent. Ages 9+