Category Archives: Bedtime Stories
Bedtime Stories: The Experiments of Dr. Vermin
Post by Mark T. Locker.
The Experiments of Dr. Vermin by Tim Egan.
Well, autumn is in full swing now. We are a week into October, the trees, as my son puts it, are glowing, and all the Halloween books are off the shelves at the public library. I usually try and hit the shelves in early September to beat the rush and get first picks of the selection. This year, I got there a little late and ended up with one about a squash who didn’t fit in and whose last line was, “Happy Thanksgiving!” (remind me to notify the librarian of the misclassification) and this Dr. Vermin book about a pig who winds up lost and seeking help on a spooooooky Halloween night.
Turns out the house Sheldon the short-order cook visited was the abode of the malevolent Dr. Vermin. Oh no! I hope Sheldon will be okay! Spoiler alert: nothing terrible happens. The pig learns a lot about himself. He befriends two wolves who had a run-in with the wicked Dr. Vermin. Together they confront the doctor and defeat him. Justice is served! The spells are broken! Sheldon takes on work as a cook for the wolves. I do hope pork is not on their menu.
It’s a simple book, simple illustrations and a simple plot. A good read for kids who say they like spooky things but are scared of anything actually scary.
Bedtime Stories: Lirael
Post by Mark T. Locker.
Lirael, Daughter of the Clayr by Garth Nix.
It’s audiobook season up here in the Bed Blog! When slogging through a long, soggy commute, or plodding through a massive mindless task, audiobooks are a great way to get some reading done and take the pain out of an otherwise burdensome or stressful task. Also, to be quite honest, I read at a ninth-grade speed so I don’t get a lot of novels finished in my down time. All this, I suppose, is to justify listening to audiobooks. So there. I listen to audiobooks, but only if the narrator is fantastic.
Lirael is the follow-up novel in the Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix. I reviewed Sabriel some time ago and recently re-read it. When I picked up a copy of the audiobook for Lirael, I was delighted to see that it is read by Tim Curry! And although I can’t help but hear his character from Clue sometimes while I listen, he does a great job. I love the character of Lirael because she is a misfit in the Clayr, who are the seers that live on a glacier. Lirael doesn’t have the Sight, but she has a far better grasp of magic than anyone else on the glacier. She even managed to create a companion for herself, a magical (but very real) dog who declared herself to be The Disreputable Dog. Garth Nix creates wonderful, snarky, talking magical animals. Lirael is my favorite second assistant librarian with a sword and the book is great fun. If you haven’t picked up this trilogy, you are missing out.
Bedtime Stories: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Post by Mark T. Locker.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
It’s time for a new chapter book around the Locker house. Now my kid is five, and I couldn’t have been much older when The Chronicles of Narnia were read aloud to me, I figured it was time to carry on the tradition. So far, he seems to be really enjoying it. As a child with a (sometimes overwhelmingly) powerful imagination, the idea of magical worlds through a normal-seeming door is very appealing to him. We just got through the chapter which I remember best from reading this as a kid: Turkish Delight. I have has this treat once, years after reading the story and I must say that my imaginary Turkish Delight was much better than the real stuff. Naturally, I thought there would be some kind of turkey involved. But there is not. It’s like nougat.
So, we are only just beginning to unfold the mysteries of Narnia. We have yet to discover talking beavers, creatures turned to stone. We’ve seen a witch and a wardrobe but the lion has yet to be seen! I’m excited to share this with another generation. I’m delighted that he is old enough to watch a whole marvelous fantasy world unfurl before his wondering eyes. For me, fall is all about wonder and magic and fantasy. What a wonderful introduction.
Bedtime Stories: Hedgie’s Surprise
Hedgie’s Surprise by Jan Brett.
What you need to know about this story is that there is a tomten in it. The main antagonist, the one causing all the trouble, is a tomten. There are not a lot of children’s books out there that require me to look up one of the first words in the story! Perhaps this just speaks to my poor Scandinavian folklore education. Apparently (according to Wikipedia) a tomten, or tomte, is a “humanoid mythical creature of Scandinavian folklore.” In this story, the tomten is a very small, troublesome little scamp who resembles an elf. And a rotten, selfish little elf-thing at that. Every day he barges into Henny’s coop and steals her eggs. She begrudgingly tolerates this until she realizes that if she could keep the eggs she could have baby chicks! But despite her best efforts, she cannot keep that tomten away.
Happily, Henny’s friend Hedgie the hedgehog (I know, these names are not up to Jan Brett’s usual standards) helps devise a cunning plan by hiding the eggs and replacing them with various other edibles, until at last Hedgie hides and gives that tomten a prickly surprise! This is not the book Jan Brett is best known for; it’s a perfectly good read and the images, as always, are lovely. Great for kids 4-6.
Bedtime Stories: Doll Bones
Post by Mark T. Locker.
Doll Bones by Holly Black.
It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed a book for older kids. Now that school has begun, some (retail stores, especially) consider this the kick-off of fall and the Halloween season. If you are into creepy stuff, and especially if you are into creepy old dolls whose glass eyes seem to follow you, this is a wonderful read.
Doll Bones is an interesting book, because it is a ghost story with substance. Partly, this story is about three adolescents, Poppy, Alice, and Zach. They are alway playing make-believe adventures, with long elaborate plots, all of which leads back to the Queen, a creepy old doll that Poppy’s mother keeps locked in a glass case. But it’s also about adolescence, about growing older and changing. It’s about that age where friends begin to grow apart, and where social pressures affect who you interact with and how you interact with them.
Part coming-of-age, part ghost story, part timeless adventure tale, Doll Bones is a finely crafted spooky story from Holly Black, the mind that brought the world The Spiderwick Chronicles. A definite must-read for lovers of scary stories and good young adult literature.
