Customer Reviews

Tell Me a Scary Story...But Not Too Scary! (Byron Preiss Book)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Wouldn't you just know that Carl Reiner would create a funny scary book? When the title says, "Tell Me a Scary Story...But Not Too Scary!," you know you are in for some scary fun!

How scary? Look at the figures making up the words "Scary Story." My goodness, but what an imagination from illustrator James Bennett! Now look at the little girl in the lower left hand corner. Look at that face--if she gets any more scared, we will have to rescue her. Come on. Let's go inside...

Immediately Carl Reiner tells the little girl (his grand-daughter?): "...but if it gets too scary for you, just say, 'Stop reading!' and I'll stop..." A guarantee that she will not stop! He repeats these words throughout the story with the same result.

Carl begins the story when he was a boy and a new neighbor moved in, Mr. Neewollah, who had a mysterious, crooked smile. Then Carl asks the little girl if the story is too scary. Of course, she wants him to continue.

One day when Mr. Neewollah was moving boxes into his house, a large, shiny object fell out and bounced to Carl's feet. He picked it up to discover it was an eyeball! He knew he must return it, so that night he went to Mr. Neewollah's house and found a light in the basement and saw something creepy. He leaned too far against the window and he fell in!

Suddenly, there is Mr. Neewollah demanding to know why this boy is in his house. Little Carl extends his arm, proffering the eyeball. The look on that boy's face is worth the price of the book--brave, frightened, determined. Cut back to the little girl listening to the story. Her look, too, is worth the price of the book.

The scariness escalates. I won't share these (because, I confess, I found myself a little frightened).

Carl Reiner certainly has a winner with this 2003 book. Only recently did I become aware of it when the second grade teacher shared it with me (the librarian). I immediately ordered the book so I will have it in time for Halloween story time. To go along with the eyeballs in the story, I will pass out "Body Parts" candies. One of the most fun things for a child is to be scared in a safe setting. Wild and scary with a surprise ending--that's what they will get with this wonderfully frightening book!

My 4yr old found this book at the library and HAD to borrow it. Looks like we'll end up buying it because it really is a fun one, esp on Halloween! It comes with a CD and is narrated by Carl Reiner.

The story is about a boy who doesn't like his neighbor, Mr. Neewollah, who has a crooked smile...but one day finds a "staring" marble drop from a box his neighbor is carrying.

Terrific illustrations that are fun and spooky for children AND adults!

This will be a fun one to pull out every Halloween for a little spook!

kids love to be scared a little bit.. this book does just that and if you read it with the carl reiner audio cd in it the kids will love the sound effects, too!!!

I will start with the positive: The CD reading is great. Mr.Reiner asking whether he should read on is really cute and engaging. My 4 year old son loved it. The illustrations are great.
That being said...There are more than enough scary halloween stories that don't deal with young children being tempted into a creepy mans basement. After each page I kept saing things like "now if a creepy neighbor invites you somewhere do you go? " I think the one thing that would have made the book better is if the neighbor wasn't a person and was maybe a goblin.
I would suggest borrowing this from the library so you can preview before buying it and maybe an older age range would suit the book.

This is a very cute book but I have to say that the cd does make the story. We have read it but isn't the same without the cd. The first time we did the story with the cd my son was sitting across the room and didn't want to do it but his younger brother did. Funny though my oldest would peek at the book and finally was on my lap helping turning the pages when needed. Also this is a good book for children who aren't used to listening to a story being read from a cd or tape, just another interesting way to enjoy a book!

We've read it at least 25 times, and he still loves it. But, then my son loves scary books. Depends on the child.

I'm a reading pull-out teacher for 3rd and 4th grade students, and I have 2 sons, ages 4 & 2, and ALL of the kids absolutely love this story! My 2 year old gets a little scared and then begins giggling as the story progresses. My oldest and most 'experienced' 4th grader smiles and thoroughly enjoys the story being read to him as well. I will say that I don't use the C.D. or my scariest voice for my 2 younger boys, as I am pretty sure they'd get a little too scared, and I really get into character when I read to my 3rd and 4th graders, but all the kids really love the story. My students have asked to have it read to them more than once, which is very uncharacteristic of my them. It has also become a favorite of my 2 sons. I highly recommend this book as it withstands the test of all ages:-)

My son got this book for his 4th birthday. We had to read it about 20 times that week. He is 6 now and this is still his favorite book! I read it to a group of kids at a halloween party and they loved it too!

My name is Delimar and I am 8 years old . My English teacher read this book to us in class and I thought this story is scary. My favorite part is when the boy was spying on the old man. I also like this book by William Steig: Doctor de Soto. I hope you like this book.

I am a substitute teacher and one day I happen to be working in the library. I had to show this book to a group of second and third graders. They loved it. The cd provides a great mood. It was of course during Halloween time and the book has a Halloween theme to it. Its a little scary but not too much. Your going to love to see the reaction of the kids.