Book Review: All the Ice Cream in the Land by Emmy Kastner

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All the Ice Cream in the Land  by Emmy Kastner  is about a princess, the kingdom she lives in, and her loyal subjects. Full of twists and turns, children will surely delight in this story about ice cream. When I saw the title and cover art of this kid's book, it made me instantly think of my childhood and how I would've loved a book like this one. A huge shout out and thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for approving my request to read this book. I received a copy for free in exchange for my honest review. The storyline is very easy to follow, making it especially suitable for toddlers, preschoolers, and early readers, particularly children between the ages of two and six. Its straightforward narrative and clear structure make it an excellent choice for read-aloud sessions at home, bedtime stories, or classroom story time. While there is limited character development, which is typical for a picture book format, the princess is still an intere...
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Book Review: Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark (Scary Stories, #1) by Alvin Schwartz

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With the movie Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark coming to movie theaters in August 2019, I had to reread the book of the same name. I loved the Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark trilogy when I was in middle school and remember them being very creepy. Although I don't think I ever got rid of my copies from my childhood, I didn't know where they are, so I ordered the entire trilogy with the original artwork from Amazon.com.

When the books were delivered to my house yesterday, I was excited to dive right in to the first book because the sight of the books brought back all the feels from my childhood. However, in the hour it took me to read the first book, Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, I was very disappointed because it wasn't nearly as good as I remembered it to be. Although, the pictures were just as wonderful as they always were . . . and super creepy.

The stories that were still creepy that I enjoyed were Room For One More, The Hook, The Babysitter, and High Beams. With that being said, the latter two were my favorites, and they did feature in various horror movies including I Know What You Did Last Summer and Urban Legends. I had forgotten that High Beams was in Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark and didn't even make the connection between it and the scene in Urban Legends, which is one of my favorite horror movies.

The reading level for Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark by Alvin Schwartz is a 4.5, which means a child in fourth grade in the fifth month of school should be able to read this book independently. Now, that doesn't account for your child's maturity level. If they don't like scary or ghost stories, then this might not be the book for them.
I think I was the exception not the rule when it came to scary stories, books, and movies. I absolutely loved them from a young age. I watched my first horror movie at the age of 7, which was Poltergeist. As far as the movie Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, I'm not sure how age appropriate it will be for kids, but as an adult, I am looking forward to watching it. I hope it is everything I hope it to be.
My adult self gives this book three out of five stars. My child self would have given it five out five stars because I remember loving it so much! Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark by Alvin Schwartz is the perfect collection of scary stories and urban legends to read at night at home or around a campfire for upper elementary kids and tweens.

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