Ghost Hunting

One of the things we've been working on at the library is creating programs where we use the library's tablets. For the teens, I knew that they probably know more about tablets and smartphones than me, so I wanted to try something that would be fun and entertaining. When one of my coworkers was talking about ghosts and ghost hunters, I thought - that's it! There's so many apps now, and there are so many ghost hunting and ghost detector apps to choose from.

Two apps were downloaded to each tablet: Ghost Observer and Ghost Radar. Ghost Observer allows you to view everything in a sort of grayscale and every so often a shape will appear and the voice will tell you a ghost has been detected. Ghost Radar looks similar to what you might imagine when you think of sonar images. 

I also wanted to download Ghost Sensor because it looks so much like the EMF meter Dean and Sam use on Supernatural, but it was not available on Android. 

The program took place after hours, so there was an extra layer of spookiness because everyone was gone and the library was empty except for the teens and two staff members. One of my coworkers had suggested she come in and make rattling noises and run around and spook the teens, which would have been tons of fun but she was not working that day. 

While the teens waited and ate Halloween cupcakes and cookies, I hid some ghost plushes around the library. Then they split up the tablets and went off using Ghost Observer. If they found a ghost plush they could keep it. After traveling around the library, we returned downstairs and tried Ghost Radar. We had some time at the end, so I'd planned a candy corn toss game where they tried to get candy corn into small cauldrons for a chance to take home some other Halloween prizes. 

This would also be a really fun activity with younger children since the apps are not too scary. My favorite moment of the night - when a teen looked at Ghost Radar and followed the red blob on the screen and paused before he said, "Wait...there's one on me!" 

Sock Creatures

The idea for this little guy is from Fun with Fabric by Annalees Lim.

Materials:
Sock
Ribbon
Buttons
Google Eyes
Pipe Cleaner
Cotton

I found the Halloween socks and ribbon (and the Halloween eraser he's holding) in the Target dollar section.

Dia de los Muertos

In honor of Halloween and El Dia de los Muertos, here are two wonderful books focusing on The Day of the Dead.

The Festival of Bones / El Festival de las Calaveras
The Little-Bitty Book for the Day of the Dead
Luis San Vicente
Translation by John William Bird & Bobby Byrd
Originally published in Mexico in 1999, this edition 2002

El Festival de las Calaveras is a little book that holds a beautiful amount of information. The illustrations are both in color and black and white. I particularly love the chalk-like illustrations at the beginning and ending of the book, and especially the one with a skeleton man and his skeleton dog. The book is a sort of lovely poem that follows the skeletons on the Day of the Dead as they head to the cemetery, sing and dance and enjoy the offerings given to them. The illustrations, particularly the black and white skeletons, are breathtaking. The book includes a history of the Day of the Dead, information on celebrating this festive time - including building an altar -, and recipes for making Pan de Muerto and Sugar Skulls. There is a beautiful translation from an ancient Nahuatl poem at the end, and I love the inclusion of a small altar at the front and back of the book with a photograph in a frame. A great book to share with loved ones, especially children.

The Day of the Dead / El Dia De Los Muertos

A Bilingual Celebration

Bob Barner

Translated by Teresa Mlawer

2010

Just as El Festival de las Calaveras does, The Day of the Dead also includes a sort of lyrical poem in both English and Spanish, but this one follows a family as they get ready to celebrate this tradition. The pages include dancing skeletons, flowers, colorful illustrations, music, and dancing. The family gathers the offerings and makes their way to the cemetery, and the skeletons are shown enjoying and dancing with them. The celebration ends with the family thinking of their loved ones, and leaving the cempazuchitl petals on their loved ones' graves. There are informational pages at the end describing the history and traditions of the Day of the Dead.

These books are so alike and yet so different. They are filled with all the beautiful aspects of this tradition, Calaveras de dulce, pan de muerto, marigolds, skeletons, and a rich source of information on the holiday. The illustrations are both so unique, and the lyrical writing inside the books tells similar stories but from different perspectives. These books would be great to use together and to read aloud, and especially to use on a unit on El Dia de los Muertos.

Books for Halloween

A quick post to suggest some really good titles for Halloween.

For younger children (and older children as well, as I personally enjoy this book myself), I really recommend The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches by Alice Low. This is a really good friendship and confidence book, with a lot of fun Halloween images. A great book I discovered this year is Vampire Boy's Goodnight by Lisa Brown. This book has some especially wonderful references to classic monsters and the legend of Dracula. I would also recommend Moonlight: the Halloween Cat by Cynthia Rylant, especially for its wonderful, calming tone.

For older readers I would like to recommend (again) the Scary Stories collection by Alvin Schwartz and any of Daniel Cohen's stories, especially The Headless Roommate and Other Tales of Terror. There are a few others I think are really good reads, including Scary Stories, illustrated by Barry Moser, and Tales for the Midnight Hour by J. B. Stamper. There is a story in Tales for the Midnight Hour that I find particularly chilling titled The Attic. Definitely do not read it alone at night when everyone else is asleep, especially if you have an attic.

Happy Halloween!