A Halloween Carol / Charles Dickens / Halloween books / Halloween quotes

Halloween: A Season of Giving

Book Promotes Goodwill at Halloween When it comes to Halloween, there are three types of people: Halloween Humbugs - These folks, usually adults, are real Halloween Grinches. Their attitude, in the words of the legendary Decimus Croome, are "Pish Posh & Poppycock." When it comes to trick-or-treaters, they turn off all the lights in their house/apartment and ignore the Halloween Carol pleas and knocks at their door. Or as Deimus Croome would say, "People have just grown so crotchety." Halloween Revelers - These are the people who really get into Halloween. They dress in costumes, hand out treats and truly celebrate Halloween for the fun holiday it is. Or as we learn in A Halloween Carol, "It is our costumes that reveal who we really are." Halloween Spirits - Halloween spirits go one step further than Halloween revelers. They remember the real reason for the season. They remember that, just like Christmas, Halloween is a time for giving, for celebrating and for coming together to enjoy each other, if only for a day. The Legend of Decimus Croome: A Halloween Carol Well over a century ago, Charles Dickens realized that people were forgetting the importance of celebrating Christmas as a time of goodwill toward fellow living beings. So he wrote A Christmas Carol as a way of reminding people to be kind, compassionate and giving during the holiday season. Author Kevin Purdy felt the same way about the Halloween season. He was seeing too many people (mostly adults) forgetting how important it was to enjoy special holidays for what they are: A time for giving and celebrating. Just like Ebenezer Scrooge learned the lessons of Christmas, Decimus Croome learned the lessons of Halloween. If you haven't had a chance to read The Legend of Decimus Croome: A Halloween Carol, you should order a copy today and read…

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October 11, 2017
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Halloween Humbug
A Halloween Carol / Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens…

...Victorian Author Extraordinaire... I don't know very many people who enjoy every Charles Dickens books, but I also know very few people who don't like any Charles Dickens' books. Mr. Dickens was a prolific writer; and he was an incredibly good writer also. As one biographer after another points out, Charles Dickens changed the world... for the better. He had an absolutely amazing impact on society. He is credited with everything from prison reform to being the man who invented Christmas. Most of us know the first lines from some of his books: "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." Or we know some of his more famous characters: Ebenezer Scrooge, Oliver Twist, Little Dorrit or David Copperfield. But do we know the real Charles Dickens? Fortunately, there are a lot of books about Charles Dickens, Pinterest boards featuring Charles Dickens and even Twitter accounts that often tweet about Dickens. But despite all that, Dickens is still a bit of a mystery. ...Often Imitated, Always Admired What most people don't realize is how many Charles Dickens imitators there are out there. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Charles Dickens should be flattered right out of his grave. And most of the adapted Dickens books are pretty darned good. In fact, if you've never read any of the Revised Classics out there, you're missing a fantastic treat. After all, the imitators learned from the masters. Let's take a look at some of the Dickens rewrites out there: SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave

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September 27, 2017
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A Halloween Carol / Halloween books / read aloud books

A Halloween Carol in the Classroom

How Teachers Can Use A Halloween Carol in the Classroom The holiday season is an excellent time to introduce students to The Legend of Decimus Croome: A Halloween Carol. It's the perfect classroom book for numerous reasons: Students will love it!! It's wonderful for numerous grade levels. In addition to the humor & spookiness, students will enjoy the word-play found throughout. It makes a great comparison novel along with A Christmas Carol. It's filled with exquisite, context-rich vocabulary. It's perfect for classroom reading/learning/literature activities. Comparative Literature: A Halloween Carol & A Christmas Carol Everyone knows the classic Christmas tale by Charles Dickens. Now, there's a contemporary Halloween version of the book that makes for wonderful comparisons that will allow students to utilize critical thinking skills as well as providing an opportunity for rich classroom discussions.  As you can see by the chart that is located to the right of this blog-post, the comparisons between these two books are plentiful. The contrasts are delightful also. Vocabulary Enrichment Through Reading All reading teachers know the importance of developing vocabulary skills in students. A Halloween Carol is filled with new vocabulary words surrounded by helpful context clues. It provides a great opportunity for teachers to present vocabulary acquisition lessons using a fun & memorable Halloween novel. Is A Halloween Carol Right for Your Classroom? Obviously The Legend of Decimus Croome: A Halloween Carol is a great read for students of all ages. It is currently ranked highly on Goodreads & Listopia for 5th & 6th graders. In fact it is near the top of the list for Books to Read to 5th Graders. But depending on how you plan to use the book, it could be just as good a book throughout middle school and well into high school. If Charles Dickens is part of your high school literature curriculum,…

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September 20, 2017
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Goodreads / PurdyBooks

PurdyBooks on Social Media

Follow PurdyBooks on Social Media Where would we be without social media... besides having a couple extra hours in a day that we're not tweeting, posting & Liking? But seriously, social media can be a fun and worthwhile tool for authors and bibliophiles. The literary community is very supportive on social media sites... assuming they know you're out there in the world of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. So I'd like to use this blog-post to reveal where you can find PurdyBooks on social media and what you might find in our various tweets and posts. Quick List of PurdyBooks Social Media Outlets PurdyBooks on Twitter PurdyBooks on Pinterest PurdyBooks on Facebook PurdyBooks on Goodreads What to Look for on PurdyBooks Social Media Accounts What will you find when you follow PurdyBooks on social media? We will share information about new books, booklists, writing tips, tittles in the PurdyBooks library, author interviews, book suggestions and an occasional joke or two. We'll also suggest other social media accounts or even specific pins, tweets & posts within the PurdyBooks Social Media universe. For example, we will often direct you to particularly good pins & boards from the PurdyBooks Pinterest account. Of course each of the social media accounts has its particular strengths so you'll find plenty of good book quotes in all of the PurdyBooks social media outlets, you're more likely to find images in our Pinterest and Facebook pages and book excerpts in our Twitter posts. Bottom line: Be sure to follow PurdyBooks and don't forget to Like the good stuff. Of course all retweets, repins and Likes are appreciated and welcomed. We'll do the same for you.

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September 16, 2017
A Halloween Carol / Halloween books / read aloud books

Halloween Carol at Top of Best Books List

Best Books to Read to 5th Graders The family Halloween book The Legend of Decimus Croome: A Halloween Carol has begun to appear on many "best of" lists including holiday book lists, best read-aloud books, best Halloween books and more. It's no surprise that this charming Halloween novel that is based on Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" would appear on so many "best book" lists in its inaugural year. But it was a pleasant surprise that it has already climbed to the very top of the Best Books to Read to 5th Graders list on Goodreads. A Halloween Carol is also near the top of other Best Books lists including the best 6th Grade Reading list. Best Revised Classic The Legend of Decimus Croome has also zoomed to the top of the best Classics Continued and Revised booklist on Goodreads. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Charles Dickens should indeed be flattered by this hilarious adapted version of A Christmas Carol. Speaking of Dickens, The Legend of Decimus Croome: A Halloween Carol has also risen to the top of the Sequels and Prequels to Dickens Stories on the Goodreads best books list. Future of The Legend of Decimus Croome Looks Bright The booklists shown above are mainly just the ones A Halloween Carol has moved up to #1 on. This delightful Halloween story has also appeared on over a dozen best booklists in the top ten or twenty. This is an incredible accomplishment for a brand new holiday novel. In many of the lists, A Halloween Carol appears near or above such literary masters as Stephen King, Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov. This is indeed high praise. A Halloween Carol Among Best Halloween Books of All Time Everyone loves Halloween and there are never quite enough really good Halloween books that can be enjoyed…

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September 14, 2017
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Goodreads / read aloud books

Best Read Aloud Books List

Read Aloud Booklist This is the first in a series of recommended booklists that can be found on Goodreads. As you will see, there are many different themes for these booklists from holiday read-aloud books to read-alouds by grade level. It is important to note that reading experts agree that reading aloud to children is an extremely valuable part of the process of learning to read. Hearing other people read aloud reinforces many valuable reading skills such as fluency, intonation, vocabulary development and reading for pleasure. Reading aloud also provides a valuable bonding experience between the reader and the person being read to. Correct Ages for Reading Out Loud to Kids Okay, that was a trick headline. There is no proper age for reading aloud to children. Any age is the proper age. As long as your/a child will let your read out loud to them, then by all means read away. Many middle school & high school teachers read out loud to their students, and the students love it, whether they'll admit it or not. Best Read Aloud Booklists Without further ado, here are some suggested booklists for reading out loud: Best Holiday Read Aloud Books Fourth Grade Read Aloud Fifth Grade Read Alouds Sixth Grade Read Alouds Books Read Aloud on Captain Kangaroo Best Books to Read Aloud Best Children's Books to Read Aloud SaveSave

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September 8, 2017