Self Published Magic and Monster Books for Kids
Read New Stories About the Monster Under the Bed and Witch Magic
Oct 7, 2009
Ever wonder where the monster under the bed comes from or what it would be like to have a good witch (and her magic) on your side? The authors of these self published books did – and came up with these fun books for kids.
Scarecrow Finds a Friend
Parents and librarians looking for Halloween storytelling books that are heavy on magic and light on scares will want to check out Blume J. Rifken’s Scarecrow Finds a Friend, a gentle picture book that doubles as both a Halloween and Thanksgiving story.
When Scarecrow befriends Tally, a witch who likes granting wishes, he gets the best Halloween of his life when Tally magically gives him a ghost scarecrow costume and takes him trick or treating. But a month later, Tally returns and reveals she’s lost her ability to fly on her witch’s broom after granting too many wishes.
Realizing the wishbone from his family’s Thanksgiving turkey may be the key to restoring Tally’s witch magic, Scarecrow comes up with an elaborate plan to get Tally into the house. But when Tally can’t find the wishbone, can Scarecrow come up with another way to help his friend?
Beautifully illustrated in watercolor by Carl W. Wenzel and well crafted by Cirrus Book Design, Scarecrow Finds a Friend harkens back to old children’s stories about generosity and friendship. While the book does get a little too precious at the end, its combination of whimsical artwork and slightly ridiculous (but sympathetic) characters makes it a good story to read aloud to kids in early elementary school.
The Monster Key
The monster under the bed story gets re-imagined in this middle grade fantasy book about bullies, thieves, and magic portals.
Lewis Grance figured the abandoned hospital would be a good place to hide from the school bullies looking to beat him up. The last thing he expects to find is a magic key that sends him to a dimension full of portals to every bed in the world. But when Lewis and his friend Jamey explore this weird dimension, they find that a thief with another magic key is using the portals to further a sinister agenda.
To stop the thief, the boys must learn the secret behind the magic keys and help the monsters under the bed that the thief has been keeping prisoner. But when Lewis gets captured, can Jamey save his friend and the monsters?
A self-published book by Jeff D. Robb, The Monster Key offers some fun twists to the old monster under the bed legend to create a tale that will excite any kid who’s dreamed of finding a hidden passageway or secret room. The book also reads quickly, allowing many readers to finish the story in a single sitting.
That said, Robb’s writing, particularly his dialogue, is a bit raw as his characters speak in awkward sentences that don’t always sound like natural speech. The narrative is also full of spelling and mechanical mistakes that could have been prevented with better copyediting. And while the plot is fast and easy to read, it doesn’t spend much time developing the boys’ characters – it would have been fun, for instance, to see the good and bad ways the boys used their key prior to their main adventure with the thief.
Still, for kids who like fast and fun monster books, The Monster Key can provide some good entertainment that will leave readers hungry for a sequel – which Robb hints at toward the end.
Find other good Halloween stories and offbeat holiday stories at Great Children Books about Vampires and Ghosts, Review of The Monster's Ring, and Review of Lemony Snicket’s The Lump of Coal.
Rifken, Blue J. Scarecrow Finds a Friend. Lewiston: Whirlpool Press. 2008. ISBN: 978-0-9796948-0-6
Robb, Jeff D. The Monster Key. CreateSpace. 2009. ISBN: 978-1440476846
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