Miss Smith and the Haunted Library

Children's Literature

When Zack's class visits the public library, Miss Smith takes along her Incredible Storybook. The students are introduced to the librarian Virginia Creeper. When she is asked to recommend some spooky stories, she consults the book Miss Smith has brought. As she reads "a little from (her) favorite scary stories," the characters pop out of the book and begin to populate the library. The students are horror-stricken by the Headless Horseman, the Hound of the Baskervilles, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Frankenstein, and many others. When Virginia Creeper stops reading and passes out cookies and cider, a party atmosphere takes over with the students and the characters intermingling and enjoying themselves. A reminder that the seniors' book club will be entering the library soon prompts Virginia Creeper to ask Miss Smith and her class to bring the room back to order. According to the rules of Miss Smith's book, they "have to finish each story so that the characters will go back into the book." Zack reads the last page of each story and the characters return to the book. As they leave the library, however, there is one monster who follows them back to school. The premise is fun and Miss Smith's looks are as unconventional as her book. The illustrations have real eye appeal. However, the monsters and other scary characters are primarily from adult books. There is a list at the end of the book—"Where to find Scary Creatures: A Guide by Virginia Creeper"—that lists the titles of the books where the characters can be found. While the characters might make great Halloween costumes, these titles, except for a very few, are inappropriate for the age group. Furthermore, I have an issue withthe implication that to "finish a book" one only has to read the last page. Miss Smith and Zack were first introduced in Garland's Miss Smith's Incredible Storybook (2003). Reviewer: Sharon Salluzzo