While Halloween is usually an exciting season filled with pumpkin patches, costumes, and of course, candy, it can be a frightening experience for some children. In fact, Jake was terrified of the whole thing from age 3 until just recently. It may have something to do with the fact that we took him in a scary Halloween store filled with graphic special effects (I swear I didn’t know it was that bad before we went in, I didn’t remember it being so gory!). While he was never freaked out enough to forgo candy begging time, he did get really spastic every time we came within 50 yards of Halloween decorations. This is the first year since then that he is really not scared anymore.
Karl Beckstrand, author of Sounds in the House recognizes that children are scared of the unknown. While, as adults, we understand that those creaks and groans are simple things like the house settling or the water heater clinking on, to children those sounds are potential monsters preparing to pounce. The main character of the book is a dog who is exploring his home and investigating all the noises. As he comes across each squeak, screech, and groan, he uncovers the real root of the sound and discovers that it isn’t so scary after all.
Harvest Halloween Contribution
In addition to several other great prizes, the winner of the Halloween Harvest giveaway hop will receive a copy of Sounds in the House. Don’t forget to come back on October 14th to enter. If you would like to get an early start on your entries, check out Karl Beckstrand’s Facebook page, as that will be one of the extra entries on the Rafflecopter form when the giveaway starts.
Note- I did receive a copy of this book to help facilitate my review, but my opinions are my own.
