Reading Level: Grades 3-4 Interest Level: Grades 3 – 6
Trapped in an amusement park fun house, a fire raging, and no way out . . . Leo told himself it was just a scary dream and that was all! But was it? Or was it a warning of something to come? Leo was about to learn that sometimes, dreams are born out of real, live nightmares!
Twelve-year-old Leo Colsen awakes from a frightening dream, where he was walking through a haunted fun house to the sound of a soft voice seeking help and giving him directions. Leo, believing the desperate cry is real, scribbles down the directions and hops on his bike. At the end of a dirt road, he finds an oldfashioned, fully functioning amusement park! In the fun house, he hears the same soft cry for help from his dream. One week later, Leo returns with two friends, but all they find is an abandoned amusement park with the ruins of a fun house and a rusted memorial sign for a boy who died there years earlier in a fire. The book's oversize format, large font, broad white borders, and plentiful colored illustrations make it ideal for reluctant readers or those transitioning to chapter books. Highlighted vocabulary is collected in a glossary, and discussion questions follow the story. Part of the Cold Whispers series, this tale has just enough ghoulish fright and will attract adventuresome readers.
This series provides eight spinetingling tales to delight young readers in search of mystery and the macabre. Each of the tales focuses on a different location, from cemeteries and amusement parks to haunted houses and caves. These stories pack enough suspense, ghosts, vampires, monsters, and curses to satisfy children who are looking forscary books. Questions at the end of each book invite readers to use higher order thinking skills, making these titles appropriate for classroom reading and discussion. Glossary. Table of Contents. Mary Jo Kelly, Ed.D., NBCT, Librarian, The Dufrocq School, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Recommended.
