NonFiction Monday -- It's October. Are you Ready for Halloween?

It's October. The harvest month in many parts of our country.

Did you see the full moon, the Harvest moon, last Saturday and Sunday nights? The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the autumn equinox. The full moon at the end of this month, is called the Hunter's Moon and will come on October 29th.  Watch it rise. It should rise even more orange in October, probably from the mist caused by the cooler nights and from the dust from the crumbling fallen leaves rising with the mist.

The full moon in October will make it easier for auto drivers to see the Trick or Treaters walking from house to house on Halloween evening. 

A good book for this month is The Halloween Book of Facts and Fun, by Wendie Old (ya -- that's me),  illustrated by Paige Billen-Frye (the lady sitting next to me up there, at the top of my blog), published by Albert Whitman.  If your bookstore doesn't have it on display, they'll order it for you.  

If you are looking for a scary book, try another one.  The pictures in this book are fun, not scary. (Frankenstein and Dracula sitting side by side reading each other's story?) The information is informational, not hyper-hysterical. And there are jokes -- some groaners, but lots that are funny.

It's an "everything you wanted to know about the holiday, but were too scared to ask."

The history of the event -- religious and nonreligious.

Why we carve faces and designs on pumpkins.
A folk tale.

Why Mary Shelley (she was Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin then, not yet married to Shelley -- yes THAT Shelley) wrote the scary story, Frankenstein.

Is there a REAL Dracula? (yes, I do mean in the present day)
Halloween jokes.

Plus --

There are Halloween party plans in the back of the book, with food of course.

Have a fun and spoooooky halloween.

Today is Nonfiction Monday. 

Click on over to the Shelf-Employed blog where she has gathered many other blog reviews of great children's nonfiction books.

Nonfiction Monday -- The Halloween Book of Facts and Fun

Despite the weather not feeling like autumn yet, (we're in the midst of Indian Summer and will reach the 80s here in Maryland today), thousands of people took advantage of the great weekend to get to their local pumpkin place (Weber's Farm) to walk the hay or corn maze, make scarecrows and buy pumpkins, apple cider, and fall decorations.

Hundreds of thousands attended Renaissance Festivals, watched shows, rode the elephant, cheered for England or Scotland at the Joust, ate food on a stick, paid to have experts put henna designs on their hands and arms (the 11-year-old wanted a dragon, again), and bought beautiful Halloween costumes. (People were still lined up for miles to get in as we left the place at 3:30 pm on Saturday.)

Although some were there just for the food and the fun, many were planning ahead to October 31 -- Halloween.

If you've been to your local library or bookstore, you'll notice displays of Halloween books set out for you to pick up. One of those books is The Halloween Book of Facts and Fun by Wendie Old (me), illustrated by Paige Billin=Frye.  Park Ridge: Illinois: Albert Whitman & Company, 2007. (available in paperback as well as hardback, and soon to be an e-book!)

Here you'll find a history of the holiday, fun facts, some halloween stories, and plans for a children's Halloween party. I LOVE the cat on the cover, don't you? Especially the way his tail curves around the moon.  (later I might tell you the story behind this wonderful cover.) And the illustrations inside are not scary at all -- not even the one where Frankenstein and Dracula are sitting side by side near a cozy fire, reading each other's book.  (Fun Fact -- did you know that there actually is a Count Dracula?  And that he runs the Red Cross blood bank in his country?)

Have fun this month. Go to your local pumpkin patch, take a hay ride. Attend the Renaissance Festival closest to you.  Enjoy these lovely autumn days.

The Nonfiction Monday list of links is located at Practically Paradise today. -wo

Nonfiction Monday -- The Groundhog Day Book of Fun

Not to toot my own horn... Okay, I'm tooting my own horn.
The Groundhog Day Book of Fun by (me) Wendie Old. Illustrated by that talented lady sitting to the left of me in that picture at the top right hand side of this blog, Paige Billin-Frye. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whtiman, 2004. Still Available.

Tomorrow is Groundhog Day. The day when we get the news. The news whether Spring will be Early, or Late. It's the day when the groundhog (woodchuck/ whistle pig/ whathaveyou) comes out of his burrow, looks around, and checks for his shadow. (hmmm, why is it always 'his' shadow? Don't girl groundhogs do this too? Definitely a subject for further study.)

If he sees his shadow -- then there will be six more weeks of winter.
No shadow? Spring will come early.

If you want to learn the meteorological basis behind this groundhog lore, you'll find it on page 25 in this book.

You would expect a sunny day (when you see your shadow) to mean that spring will be early -- but no. A sunny day in February is usually caused by a high pressure system and is cold and dry. Very wintery. Warmer days have more moisture in the air, causing clouds -- and no shadows. And therefore more spring-like weather. (We can always hope, can't we?)

Page 7 for a description of the huge celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania when they take Punxsutawney Phil out of his burrow and read a long, high-flaloutin speech about his prediction. (If you see the u-tube of this, check out the heavy gloves the groundhog handler has on --to protect himself from the snapping teeth of the grouchy groundhog who is not that happy to be pulled from a warm fake tree stump into the cold air surrounded by a screaming crowd.)

Page 28 for a list of all the other groundhogs in the United States and Canada, and the computerized ones in Europe.

Groundhog Jokes!
Groundhog Day Party Plans-- child tested by me in library programs!
Info about Groundhogs, the animal.
Yes, this was a fun book to research and write.

Oh -- is that a real groundhog in that picture above, perched between Paige and me? No -- It's a puppet from Folkmanis.

There's a nice review of this book at Carol's Notebook .
Plus a mention of it at Mary Ann Dame's blog on February 2nd, Reading, Writing, and Recipes.
And lots of other Nonfiction Monday book reviews located just a click away at the Wild About Nature blog .
Enjoy. -wendieO

Halloween quiz/ prizes

Ah ha!
Did I get your attention with the word, Prize?

First HALLOWEEN Question:
How many cats are in my halloween book: The Halloween Book of Facts and Fun? (available at your library or your local bookstore -- crossing fingers and toes.)

Yes, the cover counts.
No, the webkinz cat that I take to school visits and book signings does NOT count.

This is a case where the illustrator goes off on her own and adds her mite to the book by including something NOT mentioned in the text. (at least it's not mentioned very often.) Good illustrators do this. Paige Billin-Frye is very good.
Cats here, cats there, cats everywhere. (to paraphrase the wonderful book, Millions of Cats.)

The person who tells me the exact number of cats in the book (by putting their guess in the comments section of this blog) will win a signed copy of the book. (book not necessarily signed by my cat.) (maybe I should get a cat's paw stamp? hmmm?)
-wendie O