Scarecrow Magic

by Ed Masessa, Matt Myers (Illustrator)

Overview

After nightfall, Scarecrow and friends have a playtime adventure!

Scarecrow plays by the light of the moon.He jumps rope and dances and belts out a tune.Ghoulies and ghosties have fun through the night.Then as the sun rises, they scurry from sight.As night time falls and the moon appears, magic is building in the air. The time has finally come, and Scarecrow is ready to play. Slowly, all his friends start to arrive and they all have a good time. But soon, playtime is over and the sun starts to rise. Back at his post, Scarecrow bids his friends good night as he thinks of the next time the moon will rise and the magic will return.SCARECROW MAGIC is spooky fun that's just perfect for Halloween!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545691109
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	06/30/2015
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
Lexile:	AD580L (what's this?)
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Ed Masessa is the New York Times bestselling author of many books for young people, including The Wandmaker's Guidebook and Scarecrow Magic. He lives in Florida.
Matt Myers is the illustrator of many books, including the New York Times bestseller Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett, A Is for Musk Ox, Scarecrow Magic, Tyrannosaurus Dad, and EIEIO: How Old MacDonald Got His Farm (With a Little Help from a Hen). He lives with three little goblins in Charlotte, North Carolina. For more information, go to www.myerspaints.com.

Editorial Reviews

★ 07/27/2015
Masessa (The Time Travelers’ Journal) and Myers (Battle Bunny) conjure up a truly eerie vision of what a scarecrow gets up to during his off-duty hours, cavorting with beasts and creepy crawlies of every stripe under the unholy light of a yellow-green moon. As if the idea of the scarecrow undoing “the ropes that are binding him tight” isn’t unnerving enough, a page turn has the scarecrow stripping off his skin to reveal a grinning skeleton underneath—albeit one who keeps his boxer shorts on when he dives into a nearby pond. Myers deploys a supporting cast of pine trees come alive, bird-haystack hybrids, and other oddities that are perfectly synced to Masessa’s incantatory rhymes (“Shadows take on a life of their own./ They growl and they grumble. They ramble and roam”). Halloween-worthy chills for any time of year. Ages 3–5. Illustrator’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for A IS FOR MUSK OX (by Erin Cabatingan and illustrated by Matt Myers)"Comical illustrations take this book to a high level. The illustration quality even makes 'musk ox' tags appear to be 3-D." —CHILDREN'S LITERATUREPraise for TYRANNOSAURUS DAD (by Liz Rosenberg and illustrated by Matt Myers)"Myers' oil paintings truly amaze. Faces gain an almost three-dimensional expressiveness, and the spreads are rich in scene-setting detail." —KIRKUS REVIEWS"The illustrations ... offer inventive perspectives, dynamic action, uproarious humor, and cool details throughout." —BOOKLIST

From the Publisher

09/01/2015
Gr 1–3—A scarecrow with a sinister look is featured in this eerie fall time book. Every night as the moon glows, a scarecrow begins to come to life. "Hung from a post, a man made of straw/Moves a finger, a hand, an eyebrow, a jaw." After slipping out of his skin, he is a skeleton and is joined by other troublesome creatures to play. Games such as pumpkin bowling and double Dutch are shown as the goblins and ghouls eat treats, such as slimy fresh worms, all through the night. As the sun begins to shine, the creatures all return to where they came from. Myers's acrylic illustrations are truly spooky, especially when the scarecrow loses his skin, and could make the book a touch too scary for young ones. VERDICT This chilling fall book is perfect for elementary students who are not quite ready for Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.—Brooke Newberry, La Crosse Public Library, WI

School Library Journal

2015-07-15
What happens to a scarecrow under the glow of a full moon? He leads a night of fun and frolic with other nocturnal creepy creatures. Masessa creates suspense with steady rhyming text: "Hung from a post, a man made of straw / Moves a finger, a hand, an eyebrow, a jaw. // The magic is building. The ground comes alive. / Troublesome creatures begin to arrive." Readers will observe oddly shaped beings emerging from the soil and appearing in jagged silhouettes on the horizon. Fantastical ghouls of many types come running to join the scarecrow in his field. But a page turn shows him as "He jumps from his post, landing light as a pin. / With a zip and a swoosh, he slips out of his skin." The double-page spread shows the scarecrow stripped down to his skeletal self (but for polka-dot boxers) and gleefully jumping into the pond. Soon the goblins are jumping rope and bowling with pumpkins and gourds, and each monster hides "while skeleton seeks!" But soon the sun begins to rise, and the creatures must "blend into the shadows" or "burrow down low" while Scarecrow "zips up his skin" and climbs back to his post. Myers expertly paints highly detailed and textured illustrations to bring all the nighttime antics to life. Even though the various creatures look scary at first glance, a closer look reveals their toothy grins and playful behavior. Share with kids who like their spooky stories more silly than scary. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews