Book Review
The great thing about this book is that it not only includes crafts
to make for Halloween but also recipes, games (I.e. Sinister Twist
Game (including color patterns) is a spooky version of Twister you
can make yourself), cards, costumes (including quick costumes),
masks and makeup for all ages (Face painting basics). This
book also contains knitting, needlepoint and plastic canvas projects,
safety tips (i.e. Cautions for face painting and Dry Ice Safety
Alert), and decorating ideas for a Halloween party (including a
list of items to use to gross out your guests).
Interspersed throughout the book are fictional Halloween stories,
historical tidbits about Halloween (i.e. interesting stories about
superstitions, the real Dracula, the largest pumpkin, the largest
Jack-o'-Lantern and the legend of how to kill vampires), additional
helpful hints (i.e. how to make believable blood, a quick candle
holder, creepy cobwebs, great green slime, more edible hands, chilling
body parts, suggestions for alternative treats that will outlast
candy and not cause cavities, decorating with dead blooms, toasting
pumpkin seeds, ) as well as Halloween related articles. These
articles include History of Halloween, Witch Hunts, Bats, Growing
Pumpkins, Vintage Halloween Collectibles, Trick-or-Treating, Jack-o'-Lanterns,
The Pumpkin Man (including his wife's recipe for Pumpkin Cookies),
Trick-or-Treating Safety, Last-Minute Costumes, Making a Mummy,
and Other Halloween Game Ideas for Children.
I like that there is a magical, heartwarming quality about this
book that is evident in the photos included in the Introduction
and in the photos of the crafts being displayed in natural settings
(allowing you to see how the crafts could be used as well as seeing
how realistic they look (i.e. the Yard Gravestones) and how the
Knitted Pumpkin Hat as well as the Little Ghosts and Mr. and Mrs.
Ghost can be). I also like the whimsical content included
in the margins of the book like the Top Ten Excuses for What Happened
to the Candy (to Tell the Kids). Did you know there was even
a phobia of turning into a pumpkin? It is called Apocolocynposis.
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