Olive and other Halloween book+costume ideas from Penguin
Welcome to Penguin's Halloween blog tour, which pairs spooky middle grade books with great costume ideas! I love the idea of dressing up as a character from a book, and I know lots of families and schools choose to celebrate Halloween this way, too. Today's (seventh and final) tour stop features the first book of one of my favorite middle grade series (my review), plus a fantastic giveaway! Here's Penguin with the details:
Step into some creepy stories this Halloween and become your favorite middle grade character…from the ghoulish undead to mischievous pirates, the costumes are endless.
The Book: Books of Elsewhere: The Shadows by Jacqueline West
When eleven-year-old Olive moves into a crumbling Victorian mansion with her parents, she knows there's something strange about the house - especially the odd antique paintings covering the walls. And when she puts on a pair of old spectacles, she discovers the strangest thing yet: She can travel inside the paintings, to a spooky world that's full of dark shadows. Add to that three talking cats, who live in the house and seem to be keeping secrets of their own, and Olive soon finds herself confronting a dark and dangerous power that wants to get rid of her by any means necessary. It's up to Olive to save the house from the dark shadows, before the lights go out for good.
The Costume
Halloween is the perfect time to be Olive and travel through paintings and beyond! This costume is great for a school-day costume:
- Olive wears a red striped shirt over a long-sleeved white shirt, jeans, and red shoes. Don’t forget her yellow headband!
- Find the oldest, biggest glasses you can find. A grandparent might be able to help with this one!
- Now comes the fun part! Find a big piece of cardboard and cut out the shape of a BIG picture frame. Make the edges curvy and decorate with markers and paint.
- You’re ready to be Olive! Carry around your new picture frame and wear your glasses for quick escape – but keep an eye out! There are people who might want to make sure your Halloween is full of more tricks than treats….
Find The Books of Elsewhere online at
thebooksofelsewhere.com
And check out the rest of the blog tour for more great book+costume ideas:
M 10.22 In a Glass Grimmly by Adam Gidwitz
at
MundieKids
T 10.23
Gustav Gloom and the People Takers by Adam-Troy Castro
W 10.24
Undead Ed by Rotterly Ghoulstone
Th 10.25
Deadweather and Sunrise:Chronicles of Egg by Geoff Rodkey
at
Shelf Elf
F 10.26
The Creature from the 7th Grade by Bob Balaban
at
Bookalicious
M 10.29
Wereworld: Shadow of the Hawk by Curtis Jobling
at
Book Chic
T 10.30
Books of Elsewhere:The Shadows by Jacqueline West
right here at
Books Together
[Me again.] And now for the giveaway! Courtesy of Penguin, I'm giving away a set of
all seven books featured on the blog tour to one lucky reader (and commenter) on this post. Just leave a comment by midnight Friday, November 2 to enter [deadline extended due to Hurricane Sandy!]. If you'd like, let me know who you're going to be for Halloween, too. Olive, perhaps?