October 08 Book of the Month

Announcing Planet Silas' October 08 Book of the Month:

Moonlight: the Halloween Cat by Cynthia Rylant ; illustrated by Melissa Sweet.

Halloween is probably my favorite holiday and autumn my favorite time of year. Naturally, I want to share this sentiment with Silas, so I checked out several Halloween and fall themed books from the library recently. Both the book of the month and honorary mention are about Halloween. While Silas is just getting to know these books, they offer a fun and colorful introduction to the holiday.

I chose to highlight Moonlight for several reasons. The story is simple and both the text and illustrations are thoughtfully rendered. Silas took to it right away, signing "kitty" and calling raccoons and owls both "baas." He made a particular fuss over the owls for some reason.
I am also impartial to black cats (one of my favorite cats, Yoda, who I still miss, was all black). This story quietly follows a black cat around town on Halloween night, her favorite night of the year. It seemed to me that, as the cat observes the pumpkins, scarecrows, and trick-or-treaters, Silas too, can follow along and observe Halloween with her.

And this month's Honorary Mention:

Trick or Treat Countdown by Patricia Hubbard, illustrated by Michael Letzig.

This book introduces many iconigraphic Halloween images in an entertaining and amuzing way. The goblins were his favorite. After I read the line "Eight goblins shout 'boo!'" he pointed to one and said "gobbi gobbi gobbi." Those goblins certainly made an impression (in a very benign non-scary way)!