Tell Me a Scary Story...But Not Too Scary! by Carl Reiner

Tell Me a Scary Story…But Not Too Scary!
by Carl Reiner, with art by James Bennett [jP Reiner] 

Legendary comedy actor/writer/producer Carl Reiner (the brains behind The Dick Van Dyke Show), brings a goofy sense of humor to this children’s picture book, which is accompanied by an audiobook-on-cd disc, on which you can enjoy him reading the story in his inimitable comic fashion, accompanied by spooky sound effects.

Reiner is the narrator of a tale about a plucky young kid who has a mysterious (and slightly creepy) new neighbor — Mr. Neewollah — move in next door. When a marble that looks like an eyeball falls out of the new neighbor’s luggage — the boy decides to return it to Mr. Neewollah at midnight. But, his efforts to do so lead to a series of misadventures that eventually brings him to a scary basement laboratory and a lesson in first impressions. James Bennett’s overly-exaggerated illustrations provide good scares but also good comic relief. And Reiner’s narrator regularly interrupts his tale to make sure the listener isn’t too scared to continue.

A fun, spooky story for beginning readers, or for parents to share with their young ones during October! This 2003 Reiner & Bennett book was followed up by a sequel, Tell Me Another Scary Story…But Not Too Scary! (2009), and the non-scary Tell Me a Silly Story (2010). Sadly, the libraries do not own either of those two whimsical volumes.

[ Carl Reiner page on Wikipedia ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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