Halloween Books

Hob Goblin wakes up one evening, looks over his hideous face in the cracked mirror, finds himself an altogether handsome fellow, and gets ready for his day... er, night. Looking for his shoes, he finds an old bag of Snail Crunchies left over from his roommate, Bones Jones the skeleton. "Untidy creatures!" Hob says to himself, and grumbles that old Bones doesn’t do anything around the house.

Indeed, Bones Jones is in the habit of sitting around spraying himself with furniture polish—- Whooosh-fissssh—- and polishing his fine bones to a glossy sheen. He’s also in the habit of not doing anything because, as he says, in life he was the King of England. "In your former life you were a horse thief!" says Hob, pointing an accusing finger. One of those pointless arguments ensues—- "King!", yells Bones, "horse thief!" yells Hob, "King!", "horse thief!!", "KING!!", etc etc etc—- and Bones decides that he’s not going to stand around and be insulted by the likes of Hob Goblin, and off he goes!

Hob decides that living with a talkative, big-headed skeleton is not for the likes of him and decides to go off to the big city to seek out a slave that WILL do something around the house and not have grand ideas about being the King of England!! Casting a spell on a branch of ragwort so it grows to tremendous size, Hob and his frog, Mud, fly off to the big city full of people to capture a slave in Hob’s black bag.

The first house has a large sign on it that says Happy Halloween, and the house has cutouts of pumpkins, witches and ghosts on it. Hob isn’t sure what that is all about, but he IS sure that Mr. Happy Halloween who lives in the house will probably make a fine cleaning staff who will be better than that good-for-nothing Bones Jones!!

Of course, this begins a series of funny misunderstandings as person after person thinks that Hob is someone dressed up in a REALLY grand Halloween costume, and instead of him bagging a potential slave, people keep tossing wrapped pieces of candy and goodies into his black bag. As Hob is misunderstood, laughed at and even entered into a costume party competition, he begins to see that living with a skeleton isn’t so bad after all; even one who is fond of furniture polish and boasts of being royalty.

In the end, of course, Hob asks Bones Jones to forgive him and they have a fine feast on the candy that Hob has collected.

"Hob Goblin and the Skeleton" is a fine Halloween story, .... The text is fun to read and flows well. There is ample opportunity for the reader to use funny voices for Hob, Bones and the other characters in the book. The illustrations are detailed pencil drawings and Bones Jones is beautifully drawn with enough detail that you can count his vertebrae and fingerbones (skeletons are difficult to draw because of all the details and shading but Ms. Coville has done a masterful job).

The art teacher at the school I teach at was looking through the book and plans to use it in her art lessons to show examples of characture and movement. She also plans to use the book to show that one does not need a million different crayons or pots of paint to make beautiful pictures—- a common pencil can create wonders.

While I generally like ANY story dealing with Halloween, I am especially fond of the message of this book. Many times children will, in a fit of pique, tell their closest friends that they don’t like them because they did or didn’t do some particular thing, or because some little habit of theirs (like forever spraying yourself with furniture polish!) makes the other crazy. Living with people’s little idiosyncrasies is part of life and living with your fellow humans. While the grass may always look greener on the other side, many times it really isn’t, and this story is a prime example of that. Highly recommended!!

This book is packed with recipes for people who like "food sculpture" or "food craft." With lots of ideas for using ordinatry ingredients -- like Oreo cookies, mallowmars, and brownies -- and getting extraordinary results -- like place markers, brownie "coffins", and spaceman cookies -- this book provides fun for adults and kids alike. Not all the recipes are desserts -- some are main dish, some are appetizers. But they're all appetizing and fun!!

This is a wonderful book that will bring back holiday memories for people of all backgrounds. As soon as I started reading this book I was taken back to my childhood where I can remember seeing the old fashioned decorations the author reminisces about hanging all around my house and also in my classrooms. The cardboard cutouts were simple but as soon as you see them you will remember a time when life was simple as the decorations seemed to be. I also come from an Italian background and can relate to the author's stories of large family gatherings filled with laughter, food and love. But anyone who reads this book will reminisce about their own holiday memories and traditions. This book is great to own or give as a gift.

I've read about Lisa and Dinah before, but in this book, they seem so rude to each other, but so nice to Stevie and Carole. This is a good book about the extraordinary power of friendship.

This is a nice book with a nice tone for young children. It helps children with concepts and rhyme. Children enjoy it.

Funny First series with Snarvey Gooper. He is excited. He's finally old enough to go trick-or-treating all by himself. Buat as he walks down the street, he sees something really scary. What will he do now?
Excellent story and I love the WOLFMAN costume!

Welcome, my name is Chris McChesney and I am the author of an exciting new book titled "If One Only Looks: 85 Years of Ghost Stories".

Travel on a journey of ghostly encounters encompassing more than 8 decades of experiences. Based on true events, the tales of a Belizean man born 85 years ago are recounted in spine-chilling detail. Ghosts, spectral flames, buried treasure, and the collision of the spiritual world with the real world are just some of the eerie events harvested throughout the tales. Prepare to be glued to the words as you eerily turn page after page.

There is an old Spanish saying that says "Hay un fantasma en todo, si uno mira solamente", which translates to "there is a spirit in everything, if one only looks." So, sit back, open your eyes wide, and strap yourself in, as you take a ride on a journey into the spirit world and beyond.

If you would like to contact the author or would like additional information, please visit http://BOOK.BigRedRabbit.com

Thank you!

I think this book was really cool. It's like the Gousbumps series. I think it shouled have 5 stars. I've read a lot of hhis other books in the series.

I got this book last year for my kids and didn't pull it out until this past Halloween. Now, we read it at least once a week. Both my 5 year old and 3 year old enjoy it. The pictures and the 'can you find' activities make for fun, interactive reading.

My children love this story! On Halloween night the story follows a a human family and a monster family who live next door to each other. The thought of monsters living next door to us starts the giggles rolling!