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Monday, October 25, 2021

October Post #4

                                    Halloween!      

This is my favorite poem for Halloween.  It was written by Harry Behn.  I like reading it in a ghostly whisper.


Hallowe'en

Tonight is the night

When dead leaves fly

Like witches on switches

Across the sky,

When elf and sprite

Flit through the night

On a moony sheen.


Tonight is the night

When leaves make a sound

Like a gnome in his home

Under the ground,

When spooks and trolls

creep out of holes

Mossy and green.


Tonight is the night

When pumpkins stare

Through sheaves and leaves

Everywhere,

When ghoul and ghost

And goblin host

Dance round their queen,

It's Halloween!


This one is by Dorothy Brown Thompson

This is Halloween

Goblins on the doorstep,

Phantoms in the air,

Owls on witches' gateposts

Giving stare for stare,

Cats on flying broomsticks,

Bats against the moon,

Stirring round of fate-cakes

With a solemn spoon,

Whirling apple parings,

Figures draped in sheets

Dodging, disappearing,

Up and down the streets,

Jack-o'-lanterns grinning,

Shadows on a screen,

Shrieks and starts and laughter-

This is Halloween!


One of my favorite books for adults and children is The Headless Horseman.  It is a retelling of Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," and what makes it so unique for me is the illustrations by Emma Harding.



Enjoy Halloween! (But Remember, Witches and things that go bump in the night don't exist.  Or, do they?)



My November blogs will feature books for gift giving for the holidays.  I will start off by featuring Eileen Moynihan children's books and poetry for adults.  Her sister is also talented as an illustrator. If you remember the last blog, the first poem was from Eileen, which she kindly shared. 

 Look at last week's blog to read the entire riddle. The ending question was, "How quickly can you make three perfect slices of French toast?  The answer is:  In a minute and a half.    Label each bread slice by different numbers 1, or 2, or 3.  First, put Slice 1 and slice 2 in the frying pan for thirty seconds.  Then, take Slice 1 out of the pan, put Slice 3 in the pan, and flip Slice 2 over for thirty more seconds. In the last thirty seconds, you take the perfectly cooked Slice 2 out of the pan, flip Slice 3 over, and put Slice 1 back in with the uncooked side face-down.  Now you will have three perfectly cooked pieces of French toast that you can enjoy in only a minute and a half.


New Riddle:  You have just purchased three things at the local market: a wolf, a duck, and a bag of seeds.  To get back home, you must travel across a river in a small boat.  You are only allowed to have one item with you on your boat at any time.  You cannot leave the wolf alone with the duck because the wolf will eat the duck.  You cannot leave the duck alone with the bag of seeds because the duck will eat the seeds.

How many trips on the boat must you take to be able to get the wolf, duck, and bag of seeds across to the other side of the river safely?


3 comments:

  1. I've enjoyed the October poetry very much! They really capture the essence of Fall and Halloween. Thanks for sharing them!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the autumn poems and the riddle has me addled. Thanks for sharing about my books.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You are right; it is wonderful to receive a card or gift through the post. Thanks to the answer for the wold, duck and seeds riddle.

    ReplyDelete

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