Crock-tober

There's just something about that crisp fall air that can make you want hearty home cooked meals. Why not make it easier on yourself and just throw some goodness in your slow cooker? The possibilities are literally endless! As an added bonus, your home will smell amazing while everything is simmering away. Take a peek at these cookbooks and get some yummy new meal inspiration!

Stock the Crock by Phyllis Pellman Good

Adventures in Slow Cooking by Sarah Digregorio

Slow Cooker by Good Housekeeping

Be the Crock Pot Master by Jeff Madison

Crock Pot: Dump Meals by Cathy Mitchell

Martha Stewart's Slow Cooker by Martha Stewart

Keto Slow Cooker & One-Pot Meals by Martina Slajerova

The Gluten-Free Cookbook for Slow Cookers by Rockridge Press 

The Super Easy Vegan Slow Cooker Cookbook by Toni Okamoto

The Big Book of Paleo Slow Cooking by Natalie Perry

The Whole30 Slow Cooker by Melissa Hartwig

Healthy Slow Cooker Revolution by America's Test Kitchen

Trick-or-Treat

Trick-or-Treat...smell our feet...give us something good to read!

Alright here are some not-so-scary but still super festive Halloween reads for the little monsters!

Make sure to stop in with your kiddos on Halloween night during Trick-or-Treat hours for some spooky fun at the Library!

Board Books

Eek! Halloween! by Sandra Boynton

If You're Spooky and You Know It by Aly Fronis

Where is Baby's Pumpkin? by Karen Katz

Little Blue Truck's Halloween by Alice Schertle

The Pout-Pout Fish Halloween Faces by Deborah Diesen

Picture Books
The Spooky Wheels on the Bus by Elizabeth J. Mills

Shake Dem Halloween Bones by W. Nikola-Lisa

Goodnight, Little Monster by Helen Kettleman

Shivery Shades of Halloween by Mary McKenna Siddals

Bonaparte Falls Apart by Margery Cuyler

App Review: Toca Boo

App Name: Toca Boo
Developer: Toca Boca
Cost: $3.99
Available on iOS, Amazon, Google Play, Windows
Recommended for Preschool - Grade 2

All of the apps from this award winning studio come with a “grown ups” section with notes about the creation of the app and ways to use the app to engage with children. They note that this app is based on games like hide and seek and suggest great ways for caregivers to talk with children about the game. It is a beautifully designed app with lots of opportunity for creative play.

Early Literacy Connections

• Reading & Talking: This app is a great launching point for talking about setting, characters, and other story telling elements.
• Playing: During the game children will practice spatial reasoning as they determine what items their characters can go inside of, under, or behind. 
• Emotional Literacy: Kids will engage with fear in a safe way as they play this game. Caregiver can use this opportunity to talk about fear and how to manage it.

It's Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus!

I put a spell on you and now...you must read these spellbinding Young Adult book recommendations! 

From hints of eerie magic to post-apocalyptic epidemics to downright scary, there's sure to be a book to keep those teenage ghosts and ghouls bewitched!

Also, if your preteen or teen is feeling a little too old to go trick-or-treating this year, send them to the Library on Halloween! We will be having a little spooky fun for them from 5:00 to 7:00 that night! Costumes are totally optional.

The Waking Forest by Alyssa Wees
A dark fairy tale with a modern twist that will keep you guessing.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
A bewitching retelling of The Jungle Book.

Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories by Roald Dahl
14 supernatural short stories chosen by Dahl himself.

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

Cassidy Blake is a ghost hunter who just so happens to have a ghost for a best friend. Together they take on The Veil.

Nightbooks by J.A. White

Would you make it if you had to tell a witch a scary story every night to stay alive?

His Hideous Heart by Dahlia Adler

Modern takes on classic Edgar Allen Poe tales.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Raxter Island is quarantined from the mainland after "The Tox" takes over and forces everyone to fight for their lives.

Rotters by Daniel Kraus
A coming of age story...with dead bodies.

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones
The dead don't always stay dead...

App Review: Labo Leaves

App Name: Labo Leaves
Developer: Labo Lado Inc.
Cost: $1.99
Available on iOS, Amazon, Google Play
Recommended for Preschool and Up

This app encourages kids to get creative with natural elements of colorful fall leaves and to use them to create works of art. This on-screen experience can be a great starting point for a hands on art project.

Creepin' It Real

It's that time of year again to embrace all things spooky! What better way to get into the Halloween spirit than by digging into a harrowing book or movie?! Need some inspiration? We have you covered with these chilling classics. 

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Psycho by Robert Bloch

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

Bride of Frankenstein

Creature from the Black Lagoon

The Birds

Carrie

The Shining

The Exorcist

Rosemary's Baby

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Poltergeist

Night of the Living Dead

App Review: Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood

App Name: Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood: Play at Home with Daniel
Developer: PBS Kids
Cost: $2.99
Available on iOS, Amazon, Google Play, Windows
Recommended for Preschool - Grade 1

This app is based on the TV show produced by the Fred Rogers Company. The show and the app focus on social emotional learning for young children. By playing with Daniel, daily routines and sometimes difficult childhood experiences like going to the doctor can become more familiar. Talking with children about these experiences through play is a productive way to develop strategies for handling things in real life.