The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Disney Classic), which was adapted by Cara J. Stevens and illustrated by Golden Books is a classic tale of Disney’s version of “The Legend of Sleep Hollow”. The original shorty story by Washington Irving is much longer and has a lot more detail, but this picture book is a perfect adaptation of the Walt Disney animated short film, “The Legend of Sleepy hollow” from “Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad”. As this version is shortened, it leaves out Ichabod’s eccentricities, how Ichabod is bullied by Brom Bones, and the love triangle of Brom and Ichabod competing for Katrina Van Tassel’s affections. The main focus of the tale is the Headless Horseman that Ichabod learns about through ghost telling and soon meets in person when riding home on an ominous Halloween night. Did Ichabod really meet the Headless Horseman or was Ichabod’s imagination and fear getting the best of him, or was it Brom playing a trick on Ichabod?
The Haunted Mansion (Disney Classic-Golden Books), which was illustrated by Glen Brogan and written by Lauren Clauss is a spooky journey through the eerie rooms and property of Disney Parks’ Haunted Mansion, as a Ghost Host guides you. The carriage that transports the main character (the only disappointment I had with this story was the human characters looked too computer animated for my taste) after he hops in to take the ride actually looks like one of Disneyworld Magic Kingdom’s tour carriages of the Haunted Mansion amusement park ride, which started operating in 1969. This ride is our favorite! I recently discovered that there is aDisney’s Haunted Mansion: Pop-up Book by Chuck Murphy; we want to find and read a copy!
A Vampire Is Coming to Dinner!: 10 Rules to Follow by Pamela Jane and illustrated by Pedro Rodriguez is a fun Nosferatu style vampire read! The story’s narrator shares all of these rules one must follow when a vampire stops over for dinner while the illustrations reveal through gatefolds a small boy playing pranks (breaking the rules) on his vampire guest. At the least, this book will put a smile on your face and the illustrations and cool popup at the end add a humorously haunting delight to this Halloween treat.
