Bewitching in Readiness for Halloween

I am getting the library ready for Halloween. This is a time when my young students are quite excited about reading what is on display as they are busy planning their costumes and parties for Halloween. We saturate the library with witches, wizards, monsters, trolls, ghosts, goblins, ghouls, pumpkins, bats and spiders.

My Year 2 and some Year 1 students very quickly get hooked into a new series of novels that they haven't yet read. Even my Kindergarten students get very excited when they realise they can read Sally Rippin's School of Monsters books. 

I was reading a note from a teacher online about what series to recommend to this age group so here are my suggestions. Most have some pictures, some have colour, large font, are plot driven and the list is in roughly increasing reading difficulty and /or length. The number in brackets is how many titles there are currently in the series.

• Titchy Witch by Rose Impey and Katherine McEwen (12)

• Little Witch by Deborah Hautzig (6+)

• Witch in Training  by Maeve Friel (8)

• Woozy Wizard by Ella Woollard and Al Murphy (3)

• The Witch's Dog by Frank Rodgers (8)

• Heidi Hecklebeck by Wanda Coven and Priscilla Burris (witch) (30+)

• Isadora Moon by Harriet Muncaster (half vampire, half fairy) (14)

• Mirabelle by Harriet Muncaster (witch and fairy) (6+)

• Mona the Vampire  by Hiawyn Oram (5)

• Vampire School by Peter Bently (vampires) (6)

• The Haunted Library by Dori Hillestad Butler (ghosts) (10)

• Dorrie by Patricia Coombs (witch) (4+)

• Lottie Luna by Vivian French and Nathan Reed (werewolf) (4)

• The Goblin Princess by Jenny O'Connor (2)

• Wizzbag Wizard by Scoular Anderson (wizard) (3)

• Oliver Moon by Sue Mongredien (wizard) (12)

• Grunt and Grouch by Tracey Corderoy (monsters) (4)

• Undead Pets by Sam Hay (animal zombies) (8)

• Gargoylz by Janet Burchett and Sara Vogler (gargoyles, monsters) (16)

• Hubble Bubble by Tracey Corderoy (witch granny) (3pb 5cb)

• The Goblins  by David Melling (5)

• Winnie the Witch by Laura Owen (witch and her cat) (12+ and lots of picture books by Valerie Thomas)

• Rumblewick's Diary My Unwilling Witch by Hiawyn Oram (witch and her cat) (2pb 8cb)

• Araminta Spook by Angie Sage (haunted house and ghosts) (7)

• Witch Baby and Me by Debi Gliori (4)

• Polly and Buster  by Sally Rippin (witch and monster) (3)

• Amelia Fang by Laura Ellen Anderson (vampiress) (7)

• Bella Donna  by Ruth Symes (witch) (6)

• Fred Wizard by Simon Philip (3)

• An Awfully Beastly Business  by The Beastly Boys (werewolves, vampires, trolls etc)(6)

• Monstrous Maud by A.B. Saddlewick (witches and wizards)(6)

• The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy (witches, boarding school) (8)

• Diary of an Accidental Witch by Conor and Perdita Cargill(4)

• The Dragon in the Library by Luis Stowell (all the librarians are wizards) (3)

• Knitbone Pepper Ghost Dog  by Claire Barker and Ross Collins (ghost dog) (5)

• Goth Girl  by Chris Riddell (4) (spooky mysteries)

17th August Black Cat Appreciation Day

What is special about black cats? Quite a lot really. Our family has been a cat family. For eighteen years we had two very curious, very opinionated, very sociable Tonkinese cats and one of them was very dark, black in most lights. He was the runt of his litter and my daughter was convinced we should take him home. In contrast, his champagne coloured brother was the alpha male of the litter. He was in charge and he was the boss at home too. He ate first, he decided where they would sleep, what they would play, so when the 'boss' died first we feared for our black cat because we thought he would be at a loss. We should not have worried, he'd had a good teacher and he just became the 'boss' in every way. 

Black cats have a lot of lore and superstitions that surround them and they haven’t always been greeted with love and adoration. For our family a black cat was not a problem, but black cat symbolism varies from culture to culture and runs the gamut from symbolising a positive omen to being the harbinger of bad luck. 

Irish and Scottish people respected black cats as they believed that crossing paths with one would bring prosperity to your home.

In Japan and much of Asia, black cats symbolize good luck. Some Japanese folklore suggests that if a single woman crosses a black cat, she will find many potential suitors. 

In Greek Mythology, Hera, the Queen of the Gods, turned Galinthias, her servant, into a black cat in a fit of anger. Galinthias, in cat form, became an assistant to Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft, the moon, and death.

In North America, the Puritans who settled in New England believed that witches possessed the ability to change into black cats.

How do black cats fare in children's books? 

They are often portrayed as the villain. See Scarface Claw and Slinky Malinki  in the Hairy Maclary series.

 A Dark, Dark Tale  by Ruth Brown

Is Sid  from Six Dinner Sid, by Inga Moore a villain? 

They are often part of stories about witches and Halloween. See

•  Moonlight the Halloween Cat  by Cynthia Rylant

• Trixie the Witch's Cat by Nick Butterworth

• Rumblewick,  the witch's cat from the series of books that started with My Unwilling Witch by Hiaywn Oram

• Mog from the  Meg and Mog  series by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski. Mog does have some white stripes though.

Then there are the favourite series where they are not witch's cats, villains or heroes.

• Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton

• Pete the Cat by Eric Litwin and James Dean

The article I read did say that black cats were less likely to be adopted from cat shelters. There is 'black cat bias'. Research shows that this is because 

• People view black cats as less friendly and more aggressive

• People are still superstitious

• People believe they’re not able to read the emotions of black cats

Two books about adopted black cats are

• Holly  by Ruth Brown

• The Black Cat Who Only Wanted to be Loved by Rosa Silva

Still need convincing black cats reign supreme...read