Author/Illustrator: Collected from Folklore and retold by Alvin Schwartz with drawings by Stephen Gammell
Plot Summary: Spooky stories involving ghosts, dead people, strange phenomena, and other gruesome tales. Some stories are weird while others are more gory and graphic.
Comments: My favorite story was called, "Wonderful Sausage." I can't imagine reading it to students but I would not be opposed to having the book in my library. Perhaps I would require parental approval for students younger than fourth grade?
Extensions:
1. Upper middle school students could write their own scary stories.
2. Upper middle school students could write and record their own stories in audio or video podcasts. They could be shared with the school or on a school website.
Themes/keywords: ghosts, folklore, gore
Age/Reading Level: Interest level 5-8; ATOS - 4.7(I am going to check out this AR test to see what kinds of questions they ask); Follett - 5.2; Lexile - 760
Standards:
ELA4R2(through eighth grade) The student consistently reads at least twenty-five books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) each year. The materials should include traditional and contemporary literature (both fiction and non-fiction) as well as magazines, newspapers, textbooks, and electronic material. Such reading should represent a diverse collection of material from at least three different literary forms and from at least five different writers.
Publisher's Info: HarperCollins, New York. 1984.
ISBN-13: 978-0-397-32082-0
ISBN-10: 0-397-32082-5
Awards/Review Sources:
Wilson's Children 06/01/01 | Wilson's Junior High School 11/01/05 |
| School Library Journal | Horn Book |
| Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books |
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Genre/Dewey: 398.25
Websites:
Alvin Schwartz's New York Times obituary. Click here.
The American Library Association's Most Frequently Challenged Books from 1990 - 1999. This series is at the top of the list. Click here.
Notes for Booktalk: A warning that they stories are scary. I might read a less scary one just to expose the students who are interested. The media specialist the fourth and fifth grade school in Decatur reports that these books are VERY popular in his library.
Vocabulary:
Comments