Tag: Fiction

Activity and Coloring Sheets, Children's Literature (Ages Birth - 7), Picture Books/Easy Books (Ages 3 and up) (Fiction), Reviews

Review: Three Little Witches and the Spooky Old House by Peggy Archer

BentenShisho

Archer, Peggy. (2026). Three Little Witches and the Spooky Old House. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

*Downloadable coloring sheet at the end of this post!

“Three little witches- one with a broom, one with a sack, one with a pot- walk down the dark, dark road.”

They enter the big spooky old house and start to make a spell! One sweeps with her broom, one splits the sac, the other yields magic in the big black pot! What could they be doing?

They encounter a dusty old ghost, a fat black cat, and owl, and a spider, a crawling bug, and a little mouse as they go about their spellwork, fixing windows, setting out plates, and messing about the giant pot.

Then, all sorts of scary creatures appear at the door, and the three little witches lead them to the table: a mummy, a green goblin, and a huge, hungry ogre.

Mmmm…what is that delicious smell coming from the big, black pot. Will it be ready soon? POPCORN!!! Everyone is invited!

And those three little witches, maybe their spell did work, because suddenly, that looks like one cozy, warm house with a whole lot of friends.

A sweet book, while lyrical in prose, but not necessarily rhyming, reminds me a little of “Brown Bear, Brown Bear,What Do You See?” by Bill Martin, which is an absolutely classic. It has moody, dark illustrations that get warmer, and cozier as the book goes on and assumptions are challenged about the attendees and the witches’ intentions and actions. In the end, all the friends are having a great Halloween party together, and the house is happy and cozy. Perfect for a Fall night.

Recommended Ages: 3-7

Activity Sheets:

Original Source:Three Little Witches and the Spooky Old House by Peggy Archer & Gaia Bordicchia | Hachette Book Group

Children's Literature (Ages Birth - 7), Leveled Readers - Ages 4 to 9, Reviews

Review: Dragon’s Halloween by Dav Pilkey

BentenShisho

Pilkey, Dav. (2020). Dragon’s Halloween. Scholastic Inc. Publishers.

From the genius that gave us Captain Underpants, Dog Man, Dog and Catzilla you also have the Dragon series! This cute little man, has three different chapters/stories in this book. The first one, he’s looking for the biggest, scariest pumpkin. But all that is left at the patch are six small pumpkins.

Everyone keeps telling him they’re not scary. He just keeps telling them, just wait. Especially these jerky dudes…the fox and crocodile. They laugh and make fun of him. Actually, a lot of other characters in this entire book are just not nice and it makes me so mad cuz Dragon is adorable.

Anywho, back to the first chapter. Spoiler alert, Dragon carves his pumpkins while these jokers are mocking him, he stacks them…they’re still mocking…he puts it all together…they get scared and run away. Then so does Dragon. Lol.

Chapter comes in on Dragon getting invited to a costume party.

He doesn’t know which of three costumes to use, so he uses all three! He’s feeling super scary. But unfortunately, on the way to the party, he got wet and his costume was a mess. They made fun of him so he sat on a bench next to a pumpkin.

Next thing you know, the bench tips, the pumpkin ends up on Dragon’s head. Pumpkin goop goes everywhere and he wanders into the party, not being able to see and scares the poop out of all of the party goers (who made fun of him…I didn’t forget. :P)

They all jump into each other’s arms in terror and Dragon says, don’t be scared. It’s just me! End scene.

Chapter 3, Dragon is walking through the spooky forest. He is hungry! But he starts to hear a growling. He tries to tell himself that he is not scared. But eventually his imagination gets the best of him and he screams for help!

He wakes up a grumpy squirrel informs him that it is not, in fact, a monster following him, but his stomach. GO HOME AND EAT!

Dragon went home and made a huge pumpkin Halloween feast and ate and ate and ate until HE was round as a pumpkin. The end!

This is a great beginning chapter book for kids. Humorous, and hopefully they won’t find those jerks as upsetting as I did. But I love the way he operates and his optimism and joy.

Recommended Ages: 6-9

Activity and Coloring Sheets, Children's Literature (Ages Birth - 7), Picture Books/Easy Books (Ages 3 and up) (Fiction), Reviews

Review: The Pumpkin Thief by Alice Hemming

BentenShisho

Hemming, Alice. (2026). The Pumpkin Thief. Sourcebooks Jabberwocky.

*Downloadable activity sheet at the end of the post!

Buddies Bird and Squirrel plant a garden (well, maybe one a little more than the other), and after some impatience on the part of squirrel, five lovely little pumpkins grow, each different in their own way.

Squirrel is very smitten with the largest orange one. (I’m rather partial to those too, Squirrel!) But when Squirrel looks away for just a moment, he notices only four pumpkins remain…

…then three…

…then two…then one…and when he goes to tell Bird there is a pumpkin thief afoot, Bird is missing! OH NO!

So he packs up the last pumpkin and goes searching for clues to find Bird. He will not give up!

He finds holes made from a beak, and a feather, a swishy mark in the dirt and foot tracks! He draws a sketch of the culprit based on the clues he’s found but he is frantic. “Give. Bird. Back!” he says. “You can keep ALL the pumpkins…” And suddenly, there is bird on top of the last pumpkin. “Um, is everything ok, Squirrel?”

Squirrel finds out the truth behind the clues he misinterpreted, and the disappearing pumpkins But also, the fate of the final pumpkin he covets.

Super adorable book. This is the first in the series I have read, but there are more! Take a look. Good lessons to be had about making assumptions, not paying attention, but also, having good friends. Perfect for Fall.

Activity Sheets:

Original Source: Librarian and Educator Resources | Sourcebooks, LLC.

Pumpkin Thief Activity Sheets
Children's Literature (Ages Birth - 7), Picture Books/Easy Books (Ages 3 and up) (Fiction), Reviews

Review: Hap-pea Halloween by Keith Baker

BentenShisho

Baker, Keith. (2025). Hap-Pea Halloween. Beach Lane Book.

Keith Baker has a whole series of these “little pea” books. This one, of course, is Halloween themed. I actually really love his illustrations. I think they are creative, vivid, colorful, expressive, and full of silly, crazy detail.

The book content, I’m not super jazzed about. The entire book is just asking what/who will you be for Hallowee, and then gives you pages of suggestions with peas dressed as the suggestions.

Again, the illustrations are the stars here. The peas’ costumes are awesome and fun to point out with a little one.

It does mention, of course, that it is time to carve a jack-o-lantern.

And then you get to see what the carved jack-o-lanterns look like the peas’ town. Again, illustration is the star here. Then it goes back to asking about what you’re going to be for Halloween for a few more pages.

Then it shows the town, block by block and the little peas knocking on the doors trick-or-treating, which is, of course, colorful, fun, sweet and delightful. I particularly like the little werewolf pea in the middle and the moon in the back.

And this is the closing page.

So, not my favorite Halloween picture book. This one more has me lukewarm, but honestly, I liked it even more the second time I read it, while writing this, because I noticed more nuance and really appreciated the illustrations so much more. So, keep that in mind.

Recommended Ages: 3-5

Juvenile Fiction (Ages 8 -12), Juvenile Literature (Ages 8-12), Reviews

Review: Villains Academy by Ryan Hammond

BentenShisho

Hammond, Ryan. (2024.) Villains Academy. Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers.

*Downloadable activity sheets available at the end of this post!

This is the first of three (so far) books in this series and was recommended to me by a library kid, and I take those recommendations seriously.

It’s a younger chapter book about a school for kids learning to be villains. Lots of cute black and white illustrations and an engaging storyline.

It focuses on a young werewolf, Bram, who doesn’t feel like, or believe in himself as, a villain, at least not like his dads, and that makes him very self-conscious. Little does he know, others are just as worried about their “badness” and disappointing their parents.

He and his classmates are put into teams, and with how horribly his first couple of days have gone, with a teacher out for his expulsion and feeling like he can do nothing right, he’s really hoping his team can band together and be true friends.

The only problem is a young witch, Mona, who keeps her distance, and the fact that the rest of his team, the Weirdoughs, are keeping a secret from him and letting him shoulder the blame.

But after failures and foibles, both alone and as a team, they face a mysterious maze full of monsters and killer plants. They must emerge together and learn the secret that will allow them to get out before the other team. In the meantime, they will come to know each other better, and what it truly means to be good enough.

It’s a great story of friendship and feelings, finding your confidence and your purpose, standing up for yourself with elements of magic and mystery. It’s a great alternative for Harry Potter for younger readers. (I will continue to review alternatives for HP, but if you must read them, please do so by checking them out from your local library rather than funding hate by giving J.K. Rowling your money.)

Thanks for the recommendation, library kid!

Recommended Ages: 7-10

Activity Sheets:

Original Source: Villains Academy | Book by Ryan Hammond | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster

Villains Academy – Activity Sheets