Another season-appropriate read for the 5-10 set is
"Favorite Scary Stories of American Children", an
excellent collection of 23 of the all-time favorite
campfire tales, as selected by children across the
country. The multicultural collection includes
stories like “Blood-Red Cedar,” an Ozark variation
of a Grimm Brothers story; “The Red Velvet Ribbon,”
which first appeared in a Washington Irving
anthology; and “Married to a Ghost,” a Chinook
Indian story that is a favorite of the children in
the Pacific Northwest. The stories are individually
age-coded – a symbol indicates if the particular
tale if best suited for 5-to-6 year olds (“for
reading or telling to a child in your lap”), 7-to-8
year olds (“for reading or telling to children in a
group”) or 9-to-10 year olds (“for reading or
telling to the child, or for the child to read
alone.”)
The average story length is three
pages (or just long enough to hold the attention of
your average 5 year old) and is accompanied by
“Collection Notes” (which tell where the story
originated) and a pronunciation guide. An excellent
alternative to the popular “fright” series books,
these stories incorporate the same spooky appeal
with a rich heritage of storytelling around the
campfire on a crisp autumn night. And if you don’t
have a campfire handy, a rocking chair will do –
just remember to bring the mirror to act out your
own game of “Bloody Mary.”
By Richard Dockrey and Judy Young
Reviewed by Mary Dixon Weidler
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