Tag Archives: halloween

The Ghost Post

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ghostbustersIt’s a special week for hoots and haunts, so we’re delving into the blog archive to deliver our most ghostly posties for your Halloween celebrations!

We’ll begin with the haunting of this prime piece of story time real estate. After reading I’m Not Afraid of this Haunted House (Carolrhoda Books, 2005), kids built a “Haunted House Kit” then headed into House 13 to bust some ghosts:

i-aint-afraid-of-no-ghostMoving on to a different house, different haunting, we read Ghosts in the House (Square Fish reprint edition, 2010). After crafting a classic ghost chest, kids had to locate multiple phantoms spirited away in our elaborate four floor dollhouse!

ghost in laundry room

If you’re looking for a delightful book to share this Halloween season, we highly recommend Gustavo the Shy Ghost (Candlewick, 2020). We paired our reading with a glow lanterns and gallery ghosts. And if you’d like to visit the studio of the book’s author and illustrator, Flavia Z. Drago, you’ll find that here!

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Want to get a little more sophisticated? Try building our tabletop Pepper’s Ghost illusion.  We also tried a more basic variation of the illusion using a phone and a plastic drink lid!

seeing spiritsFor simpler – but no less spooky – apparitions try this oatmeal container projector that produces a ghostly figure on your wall or door.

thats a big bunny 3And speaking of optical illusions, we dug through Cotsen’s special collections and discovered a really cool book from 1864. Spectropia allows the reader to experience the scientific concept of afterimages. The post contains multiple spooks for you to try!

book cover 3We’ll conclude our Halloween post with a ghostly guppy. We read Goldfish Ghost (Roaring Brook Press, 2017) and crafted this simple paper plate goldfish marionette that of course hangs upside down. It was quite a hit at story time!

ghostly guppie

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Pop’s Top 13: Halloween Edition

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school for scoundrels

Happy Halloween everyone! October 31st is certainly about candy, yes. But here at the Cotsen Children’s Library, it’s also about COSTUMES. Over the years, we’ve had a number of costume connections to literary characters and events, and today we wanted to share our thirteen favorites on this oh-so-spooky holiday!

#1 EDGAR ALLAN POE

dr. dana as poeStarting the post off with the master of suspense himself, Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. This was a simple shoulder raven project, photographed in the gorgeous Scheide Library. Fun fact: Dr. Dana went to grad school at the University of Virginia, where Poe was enrolled in 1826!

#2 DOLORES UMBRIGDE, Et Al.

dolores-umbridge-costume

We challenged Princeton University student James Jared to put together as many literary characters as he could in 180 minutes…using only what he could find on the racks of a local thrift store! He did not disappoint! Check out all nine costumes here!

#3 GANDALF THE GREY

gandalf headache 2_4 2023 summer intern Daniel Dias not only got to test a LOTR escape room…he also learned that no one enters the orbit of Cotsen Outreach without eventually wearing a costume! His turn as the iconic wizard has officially earned him the now-and-future title of “Dandolf.”

#4 ROBOT

i heart robotOn the topic of being cajoled into costumes, we present Ian Dooley, Cotsen’s former Curatorial Assistant, who climbed into a robot costume to make a story time wish come true. Ian is now working on his Ph.D. at the University of London. There is a correlation in here somewhere.

#5 THE PIT CREW

team coverallWhile these costumes might not seem terribly exciting, Katie and I both wanted to include them on the list. Our pit crew coveralls served as well at a Cars and Trucks and Things that Go creative event. We have worn a LOT of event costumes over the years, but these took the trophy for comfort and practicality on a very busy day!

#6 EPIC VILLAINS

school for scoundrelsAn entire event full of literary villains? YES. A team of Princeton University students  gleefully taught children how to be nefarious, naughty, and nay-saying!

#7 FAIRY GODMOTHER

fairy godmotherSwitching over to the forces of good, we have Princeton University student Sylvia Jacobson, who gamely stepped up to be a Literal Fairy Godmother for our children’s literary society. Here we see her sporting an old wedding dress I spruced up with some rainbow fabric. Sylvia the Sparkly granted wishes very specifically. Definitely check out the post for a good chuckle!

#8 STORY TIME ROYALTY

royal pie

What could have been just an average story time seriously leveled up when Katie and I discovered these costumes at the Lewis Center for the Arts. Pizza was never so faaaaaancy!

#9 ELOISE & MYTHOLOGY

dana and katie 3

When our library re-opened after an extensive year-long renovation, we threw a big party and invited everyone to dress in literary costumes. Katie came as Eloise and I was the Dewey Decimal classification for Mythology. And yes, 291.13 was written on my arm!

#10 VICTORIAN LADIES

ladies of the manorOne of my favorite programs was a historic Victorian tea, complete with costumes, games, and a glorious tea time (blog readers might recognize our beloved Miss Marissa in the middle and Princeton University student Joani Etskovitz on the right). Some of the kids came dressed for tea too! I won’t divulge any more…definitely go check out the post!

#11 PIRATE & VIKING

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A story time featuring Jared Chapman’s hilarious book Pirate, Viking & Scientist got all the kids giggling. But when two staff members at Little, Brown decided to wear our project at the publishing house’s annual Halloween party? We were THRILLED!

#12 STEAM PUNK SPELUNKERS

Here we have three Victorian spelunkers at a massive Journey to the Centre of the Earth event we hosted in 2013. On the right is Princeton University student Kim Freid. As you can see, we were ready to tackle anything the day threw at us, thanks to all the ancient camping equipment I scored on ebay!

#13 DOOMED HEIRESSES

dracula actresses 3We started this post with Poe, and we’ll finish with the equally gothic Bram Stoker. Behold two kidnapped heiresses – myself and Special Collections Reference Professional Emma Sarconi. We’re preparing to scream and swoon our heart’s out in Katie’s masterful Dracula escape room. The jump scares were FABULOUS.

Cotsen Ghosties

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book cover 3Last Halloween season we took a stroll through our special collections pumpkin patch. Today, we’re looking for ghosts! And we found them in this amazing optical illusion book titled Spectropia; or, Surprising Spectral Illusions. Showing ghosts everywhere, and of any color. Published by J.H. Brown in London in 1864, the book teaches the concept of “the persistency of impressions, and the production of complementary colours on, the retina.”

The illusion is very simple. In the image above, stare at the small black dot by the ghost’s neck for 20-30 seconds. Then look away at a white wall or ceiling. Her ghostly image will appear in your vision, except in different colors (in this case green wreath, blue ghost)!

Scientifically speaking, this is called an afterimage. The color receptors in your eyes work in pairs (red/green, blue/yellow, etc.). When you stare at the drawing and one color fatigues your receptors, the other receptor will step in and dominate for a bit.

The book has a very lengthy description of this concept, as well as viewing instructions that include having the “gaslight turned low.”

Spectropia also has a disclaimer at the beginning: “As an apology for the apparent disregard of taste and fine art in the plates, such figures are selected as best serve the purpose for which they are intended.”

I wish they might have reprinted the disclaimer before THIS image, which honestly is going to haunt me clear through December:

The book concludes with a grand finale image that is not a ghost, but a rainbow! Definitely try this one, because it is so cool to see the colors flip in the afterimage!

Looking more more optical spooky fun? Try making our tabletop Pepper’s Ghost illusion!

Images from Spectropia; or, Surprising Spectral Illusions. Showing ghosts everywhere, and of any color. J.H. Brown, London. Griffith and Farran.1864. Cotsen Children’s Library, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.