otto the book bear in the snow

Otto and Ernest are real life book bears that live, well, in a library book.  Nothing excites them more than to be borrowed and read by a new family.  When their book is checked out and it doesn’t look like it will be returned in time for the winter party back at the library, they take matters into their own hands and embark on a snowy journey they’ll never forget.  But do they make it back in time for the winter fête?  Something tells us there are many more adventures for the pair to come.

Otto the Book Bear in the Snow was written and illustrated by Katie Cleminson and published by Ladybird Books (Penguin UK).

boo la la witch spa

For a little witch who is plum exhausted from all of her endless nights of flying around, cooking and cackling, a visit to the witch spa for a spell is just the thing.  Her session includes a cup of warm bat-whisker tea, a broom bristle facial, a scarab skin scrub, an eye of newt wrap and probably best of all, a “soak in a cauldron of mold from four hundred fungi, four hundred years old.”  A dish of candy-corn flan ends her completely relaxing day on a sweet note.

This one would be great for reading aloud if you’re having a Halloween shindig this year, with a mini nail bar afterwards with glow-in-the-dark nail polish, of course.

Boo-La-La Witch Spa was written by Samantha Berger, illustrated by Isabel Roxas and published by Dial Books.

also an octopus

Also an Octopus: a meta picture book that illuminates story-writing for kids and shows them how stories begin as "a little bit of nothing" and how they take on a life of their own.  The ukelele-playing octopus who serendipitously meets a band of rocket scientists who help him build something purple, shiny and totally awesome can attest to that.  But what becomes of the octopus and his new contraption?  That's up to the child reading this book, and the writer in him/her to imagine and decide.  Also an Octopus will be fantastic for launching many lively discussions about the writing process with children and how ideas become words, how words become sentences and how sentences work together to form a narrative that propels an idea forward and brings it to life.

Also an Octopus is Maggie Tokuda-Hall's debut picture book, illustrated by Benji Davies and published by Candlewick Press.