New PB for Facebook and Skype

One of the best things about the holidays is getting cards. Paper. Envelopes. Stamps. Real Mail. That’s why a Letter for Leo by Sergio Ruzzier caught my eye. The story revolves around Leo, a mailman who never gets any of his own. By rescuing a baby bird left behind after Fall migration, Leo makes himself a friend. When Spring comes, baby bird Cheep’s ready to rejoin his flock and leaves. You know what happens next. Baby Bird Cheep sends Leo a letter. Hurrah! Maybe it is a simple plot, but the story is not. The artwork takes you to far away place, where cats play bocce and fish get mail. I don’t know how he does it, but Ruzzier can move an eyebrow a millimeter and change the emotion shown from “sincere, heartfelt” to “bewilderment.” There’s a lot to discover in Ruzzier’s world and it’s fun to take the journey. PS This would a great read aloud over Facebook or Skype. 

karenhokansonmiller.com: Just in time for Thanksgiving...a new scary book f...

karenhokansonmiller.com: Just in time for Thanksgiving...a new scary book f...: The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier   The perfect elements for an old-fashioned scare. Two orphans, Molly and her lame brother, find ...

Just in time for Thanksgiving...a new scary book for reluctant MG readers

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier 

The perfect elements for an old-fashioned scare. Two orphans, Molly and her lame brother, find work at an isolated mansion with a strange family. It’s apparent that the family was once healthy and happy. Now the house and the family are falling to ruin. The gigantic tree, that grows both inside and outside the house, may be to blame. Or, is it the phantom that roams the house and grounds at night? Does he come to tend the tree or torment the family? This can be scary, so I’d recommend ages 10 and up. (Unless your reader is brave hearted!)

Who is this Peter Brown and why haven’t I read his books before?
I have four words to say about this book: hilarious artwork and text!” It’s no wonder Mr. Tiger is stone-faced. His life is constrained, confining and calm, or should I say, very proper. Propriety is no way for a tiger to live his life. So, when he finally drops to all four feet, I cheered. Tiger gets wilder, happier and free.
Since happiness is infectious, all the other jungle animals turn to their wild side, too. (This book is worth a read if only for Mr. Tiger’s face, but you’ll love it for everything else.)

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

A flawed hero, there’s nothing better. Ophelia’s limited by her asthma and a mind that won’t accept anything non scientific. The marvelous boy, hero number 2,  is not only missing a name but also a finger. They are unlikely foes for the evil Snow Queen, who’s scheming to stop time and make the world frozen, in both gloom and ice! A great pick for monster lovers: there are Misery bird, magical swords and ghosts. Ages 8-12- boys and girls.

Happy Halloween at Burnsville Elementary School

Thank you to Priscilla Dunn, 5th grade teacher at Burnsville Elementary School in Yancey County, NC for inviting me to share my bogeyman stories. All I can say is, I didn't scare anyone! I hope to return to have the 5th graders become my Beta Readers for my next book, HIlde and the Troll Queen (MG for boys and girls)

Bogeyman 101 Visits Mary Johnston School  in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada!

Great kids and teachers made my visit fun! We learned about writing stories, including "beginning, middle and end," main characters, setting and what the problem in the story is. We also learned that bogeymen aren't scary at all!

Just see what the JK, SK, 1, 2 and 3rd graders created for their personal bogeymen.

My bogeyman lives in the mountains. He has only been seen once. He swoops down only when people are disobeying. HIs name is Spooky.

My bogeyman lives in the sun and it is fiery. He can be dangerous.

This is a 3 headed dog. It eats mermaids and fish and magical unicorns. To stay safe you have to be in the light or drink unicorn blood. He lives in a magical world. He comes out when the moon is full.

My monster is big and giant. He lives in a house and a cave. He has special glasses and sees through mountains.

This is the 25 eyed snake. It can sting 13 people at a time. Its name is Scale.

My monster’s name is Charsar. My monster’s cave is in the woods. You stay safe if you don’t go near his fence.

My monster is a snake. He eats people and mice.

Once upon a time there was a vampire who lived in the forest. It was night when the vampire struck out. He looked for blood. He found a house and he used his magic to make it disappear. He took the children to his house They were on his magic broom when an arrow struck up and hit the broom. They fell, and the vampire disappeared.
The End

Once upon a time there was Jojojogo Gogo and Biggo. Two new people came. People said not to go in the water but the two new people went swimming. Just then the two monsters ate the two new people.

Once upon a time there was a Daddy, and he told his son not to go out at night. One day the son went out at night and the creepers chased him and killed him.

His name is Monster Mountain. He lives on the mountains. He’s nice. When little children aren’t listening, he blows ice cold wind on them. That’s the end!

Once upon a time there was an alien squid. He went after houses that were close to him. If a house was covered with hard diamonds, it would be too hard to eat.

Once in the forest there was a vampire wolf. Nobody went into the forest, especially kids. (Because the vampire wolf ate kids). Then two new kids cane to town. Everyone told them not to go in the forest. But the kids didn’t believe in monsters. So, one time they went in. They looked all around for the vampire wolf but they couldn’t seem to find him. They got lost. But then right before their eyes, the vampire wolf jumped out. They ran until they came to a dead end. Then something zipped past them. It was very bright. The vampire wolf was gone. The light was gone. They found their way home. They sat down and told their parents about their adventure. They lived happily ever after.

Once upon a time, there was a bogeyman. He loved to dig rocks. That’s my monster!

Once upon a time there was a bogeyman named Large Mouth. He eats boys because he has too many girl friends. Boys have to stay under the light of light bulbs because that’s the only way they are safe. They eat all men, even if they are in the light. But they won’t eat Scott because his ancestor was a Large Mouth.
Evie

Once upon  time there was a big bad monster.

Bewer the Snow Bogeyman

Once upon a time there was a girl named Emma. She went to get a pail of water. But then a evil squid
popped up. Another squid chased her for 50 meters.

The bogeyman is in the cave. He sees something and swims up.

My bogeyman is under water.

The bunyip hides in its cave. He leaves his space so he can scare people. The bunyip gets people when they go near the water. When girls come near, he’ll eat their brains.
Anya

The bunyip rings the doorbell to the cave. He slips on the water.

David

My bunyip lives in the Arctic.

The turtle hides from the bunyip.

That's an eyeball!

This is Fred the Canadian Bogeyman. He lives in a forest. He feeds on grass and tree bark. He gets weak by sunbeams and has frostbite powers. So, watch out for Fred!
Ben

Let me tell you about Thunder. He’s the scariest bogeyman in Canada. Never go in the lake because he can give you frostbite in 2 seconds. If you see him, never throw a boomerang at him, he will get stronger. He has a blue face and green ears. If you see him, he has salmon eyes. He also has a pale body, golden toes, blue scales and his arm comes out of his neck. How can you protect yourself against him? Simple. When you go in his forest, always wear the color purple while eating pizza!

Farah

Hi, this is my bogeyman that I made. It is a girl and her name is Sarah. She has long black hair and big blue eyes. She likes to swim and is a really good swimmer. She loves going to her friend Meggie’s house. She can glide on ice. She is awesome!
Shaynee

My Imagination of a Canadian Bogeyman
My Canadian Bogeyman is really strong, he can absorb the sun and shoot it back at you. All weapons just go through him, but the boomerang. In my imagination, the Canadian Bogeyman can walk on snow; he can also turn new ice into old ice when you are skating on it or something close to that. He has the power to turn snow into ice or ice into snow. My bogeyman is immune to the cold. He can give frostbite and turn invisible. My bogeyman can turn his fur white to black or black into white. He has a blue face, an orange and red neck, green arms and two purple legs. He is the world’s strongest and toughest bogeyman, but there are two ways to stop him. You could throw a boomerang and hit him, or if you are wearing blue, he will run away.
Malcolm

Bogeyman Mama Lana
You have to defend yourself from her because she is fast. She is able to eat a child. To beat her, you have to bring an adult. Then she will run away. She is 12 years old. I hope you enjoy reading about her.
Jana

Grumpy Grinder
Remember to bring a torch with you to make this bogeyman run away from you.
My bogeyman’s name is Grumpy Grinder. He has fiery hands. He can shock people with his hands. He can squash people with his tummy. He can go through walls. He has x-ray vision. He can smush people with his bare hands, My bogeyman is really big. My bogeyman is strong.
Dreaden

One time there was a boy and he did not like the bogeyman. He had dreams about him so he could not go to sleep. But, he was tired. So he went outside into the forest. He heard a noise. So he tried to get out of the forest. He got caught by the bogeyman and then it started raining. So the bogeyman used his powers to get the boy, but the boy had good powers, too. So then the bogeyman got hot, and made fireballs. There were fireballs and iceballs. The bogeyman ran away and never came back to bother the boy.
So all the children were safe, but the people did not know that a boy had beaten him. 

The people did not know that there was also a bogey lady and her name was Mlle McManus. Mlle McManus was a nice bogey lady, so the whole world was safe. So the world did not have to be saved anymore.
Addie

My Bogeywoman!
My bogeywoman’s name is Salina. She lives in the ocean. If something tries to eat her when she is swimming, sleeping and walking, she fights back. There are two eyes on both of her legs, so when the shark or fish eats her legs, her two eyes will bite whatever is eating her. Salina has two hands on both arms. She can catch a lot of fish or food at a time. Her powers are when it rains, she shrinks and when the sun shines on her, she grows. Salina’s enemies are great white sharks and teachers.
Do you think my bogeyman is cool?
Emily

My name is Pizzabrain. He is nice. His favorite food is pizza. His favorite game is tag. He is five feet tall. He is fast at making pizza. If he gets mad, he will throw fireballs. He likes to watch TV.
Josh

My bogeyman is called Fluffy Dance woman. She is a good bogeyman. She always wears her pet cat named Dance Puss-Puss on her head. She can carry her because she has horns. She is very good at dancing. She has powers that can make people that are not good at dancing good dancers. She lives in a cave that looks like a castle. Fluffy Dance Woman has pretty eye colors. She likes to wear fancy clothes. She has squiggly legs but she can still swim.  She likes to put dance tattoos on her face. Her kitty Dance Puss-Puss brings bags so she can stand on them if she falls. Fluffy Dance woman loves colors but her favorite color is pink. She loves to wear gloves and she loves to bike!
Lucy

My bogeyman lives in the forest. My bogeyman is evil. My bogeyman is a boy. My bogeyman steals tacos. And my bogeyman can hypnotize you. He can shoot fire and ice and water. He has an ice and water wing. He can shoot lasers from his eyes. The purple dots on him can shoot hypnotizing lasers. The green dots can shot frats.
Duncan

The Powerful
The Powerful has blue spikes on his head and purple ones on his back and the tail. He has two hypnotizing eyes. His weakness is water. If you throw anything but water at him he will get stronger. He has energy balls that fly around and protect him. When he walks on water it turns into ice and the ice disappears behind him when he walks away. The Powerful is 100 meters tall and 150 meters long.
Daniel

Once upon a time there was a bogeyman that could walk in  deep snow and go under it. One day she found pizza and opened the box and there was a full box of pizza and it was her favorite kind of pizza. Her name was Bogey Addie. Her favorite food was pizza, apples, bananas and candy. She did not like the dark. She didn’t like lions or tigers or cheetahs. She definitely didn’t like tigers. 

She likes to be safe. She is afraid of cars and loud noises. She is afraid of fast animals Kids are afraid of her because she has red eyes. But she is a nice Bogey Girl. So don’t be scared of her when she comes. Luckily, she’s not a boy. Boys are sometimes rough. But she is a girl so she is gentle, not rough.
Aislyn

His name is Zombie. He gets stronger in the sun, He likes pizza. He likes soccer. He is good at bowling. Zombie is afraid of a rabbit.

Marco

The Thing
What is it? Nobody! It is a thing that sucks blood. It’s an ancestor to the mermaids. It’s known to humans as “King of Knives” because it has knives all over parts of his boy. It is a muscular monster with a frostbite touch. Every 500 years or so it will attack the universe.
How will it attack the universe?
Dee

The Destroyer
The Destroyer us very dangerous! If you go near him spikes rise on both sides of him like an arena! Behind the spikes are holes! The monster tries to make you fall into the hole to make you fall into a different dimension. He has a hypnotic eye! He looks like a snake with two heads! He has wings and claws on wings. He can shoot plasma out of the front of his head. He can shoot out different balls-sleep, lava, ice and fire. He can charge them with power or poison.
Nikita

The name of my bogeyman is Grimes! His powers: if you stare at this bogeyman, he will make you laugh. If you throw a rock at this bogeyman, the rock will bounce back at you. His weakness: if you kick this bogeyman he will fall down and never stand up and die.
Leif

It helps people in danger and is very nice. If you need help it will help you. You should play with it because it likes to play.

My bogey girl is nice and comes out in the day. If you are nice, she will come. But, if you are mean, she does not come. She does not come in the winter or night. She is red, blue and green. The bogey girl has long hair, but no spikes. My bogey girl is a big as a kid. She loves kids and treats. Because she loves treats, she gives out treats if you are nice. She likes animals and nice people. Bogey girl loves school and making friends. If it is raining she shrinks, but if it’s sunny she stays her size. I think she has a really nice smile, Do you want to see her? I definitely want to!

My bogeyman’s name is Deadly Dinosaur. He is green with dark blue and light blue on the top of his body. He has 4 legs with 3 medium grey claws on each foot. His head has fangs and is green. His eyes can shoot lasers out of them. It shoots poison arrows with fire in them. He can walk you through walls. If he touches you, you get frostbite. The snow The snow gets a smile after he steps on it. He can shoot ice balls and snow balls.
Ryan

Evil’s fangs are poison if you touch them. When Evil gets scared he brings his fangs out. The bump helps Evil
Grow inside. Evil has nails to help him climb. The bumps on Evil’s body helps him to stand up.
Liam

                                   The Blue Sorcerer
He likes to play with young children but when he is mad he is a real demon. He will never hurt a child, even when they make him mad. He enjoys playing table hockey, tag, and connect the dots. He uses his orange sharp fingers to dig tunnels underground. He has lots of powers. His favorite power is ice and fire.
Isaiah

You don’t want to get closer than 10 feet to him, or you will get electrified. Don’t let the Wooly Wolfull see water. Wooly Wolfull can copy forms. He has big black eyes. His tail is electrified. The Wooly Wolfull has sharp teeth. The Wooly Wolffull is long.
Rowan

This is my bogeyman. His name is Kufu. He’s a snow monster. He comes out in the winter when it’s cold. When it’s cold, he can sink into the snow. He sometimes comes out in fall, but then he will shrink. So he prefers winters when it’s cold.

Noe