Books : Halloween #1

Books are a great way to teach English to children but you have to find the ones that the kids really enjoy.  Over the years I have bought and read so many books but there are always ones that stand out.  These are the books that the children ask for again and again.  The ones that they convince their parents to buy in their Mother tongue or sometimes even in English.

Every Halloween has me grabbing the Winnie the Witch series by Valerie Thomas.  Actually I want to start reading them now even though it isn't October yet!  I think I have all of the books in the series and already ordered the latest release!

Winnie the Witch and her cat Wilbur are fun, interesting and unforgettable.  The illustrations by Korky Paul really bring the story to life and the little details in these picture books will have the kids looking at them for hours.

I always let the kids say the spells with me and even add special movements if Winnie only says Abracadabra.  The children love waving their pretend magic wands around five times or even ten times before shouting the magic word.  Counting, colours and much more are involved in these stories and you can teach many a topic using these books.

My children also love to see the pictures that are on the inside covers.  They are drawings from children all over the world and I always have to tell them the names, ages and country of the artists who have been picked for each book (found at the beginning of the book).

There is also a Winnie the Witch song/chant.  I end the song with a nice 1, 2, 3, Abracadabra! (see below) and try and use as many hand movements as possible.  Also try clicking your fingers or clapping with the chorus.

I highly suggest trying these books with all ages.  Even the adults like them ;)

I am not sure how many other languages the books have been translated into but the German versions are fun because Winnie is called Zilly and her cat Wilbur is called Zimbargo.  This amuses the kids and it is also nice if you can the version in your local language to not only compare but to make sure the children understand the whole story.

If you are buying the books new then look for the collections.  There are various options available with 6 books in 1 or 3 in 1.  On Amazon I also saw a nice package of 5 books with some activity books included that release in October.

Do you have any Halloween book suggestions?  Feel free to comment and share!

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