We chicks take Halloween very seriously. In fact, we take our costumes so seriously, it's not even funny. It's seriously funny. Like that one Halloween when we dressed like pigeons and rented a bus to trick-or-treat around the barnyard. (The cows are still a bit traumatized, but WOW, the memories!!!)

We also take our candy seriously...seriously enough that we've had to establish some ground rules after a big night of trick-or-treating. Namely: Andrea has dibs on Snickers and Whoppers. Julia has dibs on Butterfingers. Carolyn has dibs on Mounds. And then Julia and Carolyn engage in an all-out Kung-Fu Smack-down for the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. (This is a ticketed event. Please call the Barnyard Box Office for more info.)

So here's our question for you: Which candy do you call first dibs on at your house?

Leave your answer in the comments section below, and on Sunday, November 2 (after waking from our candy-induced comas), we will randomly select a winner.

What will you win? A book, of course! But not just any book. You will win your very own autographed copy of Carolyn's latest monsterpiece, Where's My Mummy? And who knows, maybe we'll throw in some treats as well! Or are we tricking you? You'll never know unless you play!

Boo, Bunny!
by Kathryn O. Galbraith
Illustrated by Jeff Mack
Harcourt Children's Books
ISBN: 978-0152162467
http://kathrynogalbraith.com/
http://www.jeffmack.com/

Ooooh! Halloween is scary. Do you remember your first trick or treat adventure? The dark. The wind. The creepy house too terrifying to approach. Every shadow exploding with danger! Boo! It's enough to scare the ears off a little bunny. That is, until he finds a friend. There's nothing like holding your best friend's paw to ward off the jitters.

Boo, Bunny! is the perfect book for youngsters about to go out on their first Halloween adventure. Short, snappy rhyme paired with beautiful, playful, and suspenseful illustrations will enthrall young bunnies, ghosts, and superheroes alike!

Natalie & Naughtily
by Vincent X. Kirsch
Bloomsbury USA
ISBN 9781599902692
vincentxkirsch.com

After reading Natalie and Naughtily, the Three Silly Chicks immediately wanted to adopt these two charming girls. Or rather, we wanted them to adopt us. You see, the Nopps sisters live in a house on top of "the greatest department store in the world." And it truly is a fabulously grand store, filled with chandeliers and toys and potted plants and fussy customers and toys and little dogs and foofy hats and the rarest of rarities...oh, and did we mention toys? The toy floor alone is enough to make Santa's elves turn holly green with envy.

On one very busy day, Natalie & Naughtily are kindly asked by their parents not to play in the store. So the intrepid girls decide that they will "help" instead. As the girls go from floor to floor finding ways to help -- such as spritzing everyone with Mischief #5 in the perfume department -- two boys simultaneously tour the store using Natalie's floor-by-floor list of favorites and Naughtily's hilariously drawn map. In addition, six silly pooches have their own bit of fun as the make their way through the store. Vincent X. Kirsch's gorgeously detailed illustrations provide a delicious hide-and-seek game for readers as they try to follow all four kids and all six pooches throughout this whimsical romp of a book.

Boogie Knights
written by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by Mark Siegel
A Richard Jackson Book
ISBN 978-0-689-87639-4

Deep down in the collective soul of The Three Silly Chicks there are three disco divas just waiting for the right song. When we saw Boogie Knights on the shelves by one of our favorite author-illustrator teams, we busted into The Hustle right smack dab in the middle of our local indie.

And oh, how this book boogies! It grooves, it moves, it shimmies and shakes! It is all you want from a Lisa Wheeler/Mark Siegel book and then some! We love the perfect rhythm and rhyme, which we've come to expect from all of Lisa Wheeler's books. We also love the names of the Boogie Knights who sleep upstairs in the castle--Sir Veillance, Sir Prize, Sir Loin, Sir Round, Sir Cumference, Sir Ender and Sir Vivor (who is the last one to join the party). It's clear Wheeler has had a lot of fun with her word play, and we, the readers, have fun right along with her.

Mark Siegel has added his own clever touches. He mixes things up stylistically by including both simple line drawings and full color drawings. The result is spunky and fresh with plenty of details to study up close. Observant readers will enjoy following the small, nervous prince and the off-the-wall ghost princess who haunt the pages.

So don your puca shells, platforms, puzzle rings and peasant skirts and boogie down with Boogie Knights! It's Dyno-mite!

We are proud to announce that the newest book in the coop, Where's My Mummy? by Carolyn Crimi, has garnered smashing reviews! (Well, with one exception, but he's as cranky as a Kirkus reviewer.) It's official--Where's My Mummy? is a hit!




"A scary, hairy treat! I howled with delight!"

Wolf Man


"I loved it!"

Dr. Jekyll


"I hated it!"

Mr. Hyde


"The kind of book you just want to sink your teeth into!"

Dracula


"I laughed my head off!"

Frankenstein


Interested in a signed copy? Drop by one of Carolyn's upcoming signings:

October 26th, Chicago Kids Bookstore, 3453 N. Southport, Chicago, 2:00-3:00

October 30th, Woburn Library, 46 Pleasant St, Woburn, MA, 3:30-4:30


Scare up some fun with this sweet bedtime story!