Not-so scary Halloween ideas and resources with freebies

Looking for some fresh ideas for Halloween?  

"Scary Night" by Lesley Gibbes received an Honours Award through the Children's Book Council Awards in Australia.  It is not scary at all and would be a terrific companion text for other picture books like "Rosie's Walk" (directional language) and "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" (repetition of location language).  You can read a review of it by clicking on the image below.

Or, you can read a guest post from the author Lesley Gibbs here.  Two Year 6 girls from Covenant Christian School in Sydney, Australia, have posted a book trailer for this new picture book on YouTube.

Free teaching notes for "Scary Night" are available here and here.  There are some terrific ideas for free story props here.  You can also find free interactive activities for this picture book here.  In fact, that site has free interactive activities for all of the shortlisted books in this year's Australian Children's Book Council Awards.

These other sites have free resources and ideas for each of the shortlisted books as well:

Mrs Mac's Library

Mrs B's Interactive Literacy

Dr Jennie Bales

This website has ideas for early years children exploring emotions:
The Little Big Book Club

I put together a mini reading comprehension resource for a friend who was using this title during Book Week.  You can pick up your own freebie copy by clicking on the image below.  If you do download it, I would really appreciate it if you would take a moment to leave feedback in my TPT store.

You can check out my previous blog posts related to picture books for a not-so-scary Halloween, with other freebies, here:
Halloween Treat

Two newly published picture books with a freebie and resource links

"Monster Chef" with freebies

"Monster Chef" by Nick Bland - terrific for a not-so-scary Halloween

Creepy Comparisons with a freebie

"Creepy Carrots" new resource

I have pinned lots of other ideas for Halloween here.

Enjoy all the freebies for a not-so-scary Halloween :)

Father's Day - children's literature

Want something new and fresh for Father's Day?  The titles below are recently published.

You can browse through "Demolition Dad" by Phil Earle at Amazon or read reviews here and here.  You can read reviews on the other new titles which are more for younger readers here.  Free teachign notes for "My Dad is a Giraffe" are available here.

I recently blogged about another title, "Every Second Friday" that is great for children of divorced or separated parents here.

 

"A Day with Dad" is similar in that Tim doesn't live with his Dad.  His dad lives in another town and Tim doesn't see him very often, so spending a day with his dad is very special.  You can browse inside this title here or read a review here.  You can view a read aloud of this title here.

Some other fabulous picture books for Father's Day are included below:

"My Daddy Ate an Apple" is another classic from Craig Smith that is full of humour and comes with a CD for the story in song.  You can read a review of this title here and here.  You can view a review of this funny picture book with such a catchy tune here.  

"Every Friday" is the story of a boy and his father who spend every Friday doing special things together that illustrates the unique bond between fathers and sons.  A trailer for the picture book for early readers can be viewed here.

"Two Old Potatoes and Me" is the story of a daughter and her father.  This is another picture book featuring a family who are separated. At her father's house she finds two old potatoes in the back of the cupboard that have sprouts growing from them.  This is a terrific picture book for integrating backyard science into Father's Day studies, by studying gardening, plants and propagation.  You can read a review of this picture book here and here.

There are some terrific ideas here for a Dads' and Kids' Book Club using "Two Old Potatoes and Me".  Free teaching notes are available here and here and here.   

"Crocodaddy" is a fun rhyming story for early readers.  You can look inside the book here, view a synopsis of the story here or access free teaching notes here.

"A Wild Father's Day" is such a fun title which is also great for introducing similes.  You can look inside the title here.  I was thinking it would work well with "From Head to Toe" by Eric Carle.  You can preview the story by viewing a father reading it to his young baby here.

"My Dad" is a classic by Anthony Browne.  You can view a read aloud of this picture book here or here or you can look inside the book here.  You can read book reviews here and here.

What are your favourite picture books for Father's Day in Australia?  Please leave a comment below if you have a favourite.

Have a wonderful week everyone and Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there.