cbr13bingo Self Care
Self Care to me is having fun. Halloween is fun (I mean CANDY????) and costumes (I have had more fun with costumes as an adult then I ever did as a kid, and I had some crazy fun costumes. Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother with her sign of qualifications anyone? Or years before, homemade paper mice in a cage (all connected) made by grandpa for the Cinderella costume?) Also, fun? Reading books. All types of books. Big ones, small ones, picture books, novels, poetry…
But when you can combine Halloween and books, I am most happy. I am even more happy when that “Halloween book” is an anytime book. And Hardly Haunted is one of those anytime books as it deals with self-acceptance when it is all said and done and not really a Halloween book.
Jessie Sima has written, as well as illustrated, a picture book that is about a house who is afraid she is haunted! She does not want to be haunted. Therefore, she tries to stay calm so doors do not creak. She tries to make sure things are not spooky and that those odd sounds do not come from her. Yet, one day she has an experience that changes her feelings and she realizes that being haunted might not be so bad after all, especially when the right family finds you!
This can be an any age book if you stick to reading the illustrations, the older child (4-5 to about 8) would be a good one for the text. It can also be a solo read for that first or second grader. It is a picture book, so that might throw off some readers, but as far as I am concerned, picture books are comfort-food for my brain as I remember being read to, reading to my sister and later, reading to children I babysat for and my nephews.
The art helps add to the fun, comfort and covering multiple ages. Sima’s work is bold, but not brassy. Colorful without overwhelming. It is dark and spooky, but light and not-so-spooky as well.