Day 177: The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

I'm always looking for fun seasonal or holiday books when we go to the library.  On a recent visit, I was simply running inside to get a specific dvd while my husband and kids waited in the car.  It was a gorgeous fall day and we were eager to explore a new hiking trail at a nearby preservation, so we didn't want to take the time for all of us to go inside.  As I quickly passed by the lovely display of Halloween books, I grabbed two without looking at anything more than their covers so that I'd have some new books for the kids to look at in the car.  The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything was one of them.

The first time I read it, I thought it was cute, but nothing worth blogging about it.  My kids really seemed to like it, though, and I listened as my husband read it to them again and they laughed and giggled their way through the story. That was two weeks ago, and my 2 year old daughter has asked to read this story at both naptime and bedtime every day since.  She can't get enough of it!  When she doesn't want to go upstairs for her nap, all I have to do is tell her that we can go up and read The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything and she says, "Okay!" and races up the stairs.  My son loves reading it, too, and he and my daughter both find it incredibly fun and silly.  A little old lady goes for a walk in the woods, and meets one haunted piece of clothing after another on her way home.  Two shoes that go "Clomp! Clomp!"  One pair of pants that goes "Wiggle! Wiggle!"  A shirt that goes "Shake! Shake!"  Two gloves that go "Clap! Clap!" One hat that goes "Nod! Nod!" and one pumpkin head that goes "Boo!  Boo!"  As the little old lady hurries home, the clothes and pumpkin follow her, making their silly noises all the while.  It's got a cute little ending, and the pictures manage to show that she is scared without being scary.  I'll admit that in some ways, this book does not meet all of my usual requirements for a blog-worthy book.  I wouldn't say that it is particularly well-written, but it is written in a way that is incredibly appealing to children.  The anticipation and repetition of the verses is always fun for them, and they just love wiggling and shaking and clapping along to the actions in the story.  This book would make a great preschool or kindergarten read-aloud for Halloween; you could even build your own scarecrow afterward for even more fun.  When a book earns as many reading requests as this one does, there is something special about it.

The more I read this story with my kids and see how it never fails to make them laugh and smile, the more I realize that this is a story worth sharing here.  I don't love it, but my kids do.  Sometimes, when it comes to what makes a great book, that is all that matters.