Tales to Keep You Up at Night

By Dan Poblocki

Informational Resources:

Author Information:

Dan Poblocki’s Website:

http://www.danpoblocki.com/

Activities & Resources:

Activities:

Writing

Write your own tale to keep others up at night like Willa and her friends in Swamp Gas.

Write about why Amelia would be obsessed with the biographies of Shirley Chisholm, Eleanor Roosevelt, Hatshepsut, Joan of Arc and Amelia Earhart.

Witches

What is witchcraft?

https://kids.kiddle.co/Witchcraft

What is a witch?

https://wiki.kidzsearch.com/wiki/Witch

Make a witch:

https://www.amorecraftylife.com/witch-kid-crafts-halloween/

Ghosts

What is a ghost?

https://kids.kiddle.co/Ghost

Make a ghost:

https://rhythmsofplay.com/tissue-paper-ghost-craft/

Crows

Make an origami crow: (4:04)

https://you-tu.be/PJfCTYLyhaU

Draw a crow:

https://helloartsy.com/how-to-draw-a-crow/

MakerSpace Activities:

Moll kept her family history and recipes in a “Book of Shadows”. Make a book of shadows or a memory book.

https://happydealhappyday.com/upcycled-cereal-box-notebook/?epik=dj0yJnU9TmREWFA5Vlp6RERIbGN1Z2lHRXM2UzlqVUswbGE0X0YmcD0wJm49OXJfVld0aFNxRzJGcktuc2xnajFwQSZ0PUFBQUFBR1BZRVpV

Make a well (4:07):

https://you-tu.be/TOtb5YwRwYA

Make a bell:

https://teaching2and3yearolds.com/how-to-turn-a-jingle-bell-craft-into-instrument/

Make a car out of recycled items:

https://www.123homeschool4me.com/rubber-band-powered-cars-science_17/

Make glow-in-the-dark “swamp gas” bubbles:

https://frugalfun4boys.com/how-to-make-glowing-bubbles/

Make a balloon flower (4:22):

https://you-tu.be/ZuOZ37Tie6Y

Make a turtle out of clay:

https://onelittleproject.com/clay-turtle/

Discussion Questions:

Based on the title and cover of the book, what are some predictions you can make about the story?

The Table of Contents does not start with the first chapter, Amelia in the Attic, on page 1. Why do you think the Table of Contents starts with a tale on page 14 called Moll’s Well?

Both Amelia’s grandfather and grandmother disappeared at different times in her life and were never found. How would that affect your life? What would you do?

On page 29, the author writes “For once you tell a tale, you cannot take it back.” 

What do you think it means that Amelia shares a last name with the judge from the first tale?

In the tale Moll’s Well, how could people who were Moll’s friends, neighbors and customers change their ideas about her so much to become her enemies?

Amelia had a dream that her grandmother wrote “Do not read this book” in the front of the book she found in the attic. Why would she still read the book if she did not usually enjoy this kind of book and Gran said not to read it? What would you have done?

Granny just wants a glass of water in the tale The Babysitter and the Bell. Is she a good granny or a bad one?  Why?

In the tale, The Ride, Ephraim compares this scary ride to the time when his parents told him he was getting a divorce. What could you compare it to in your life?  Why?

On page 61Auntie LaRue said, “Watch your tone with me, Mr. Lloyd. I do not suffer fools.”  What does she mean she does not suffer fools, in the tale Green Beans?

What is the most interesting way you have gotten out of eating something yucky like the green beans that Lloyd was supposed to eat in Green Beans?

On page 72, Amelia asks herself if Lloyd had gotten what he deserved or if Auntie LaRue was the villain.  What do you think?  Prove your answer.

Why did Willa want to say thank you at the end of Swamp Gas?

In the tale Baby Witch, the author writes that “Everyone knows that there are witches out in the woods…the witches tend to look like you or me…you might have already met one or two of them in town.” Are witches real? If you said yes, how are real witches the same from the witches in the story?  How are they different?

On page 111, Amelia says that the tale Baby Witch holds a clue that ties all the other tales together. The tales in Tales to Keep You Up at Night seem to be unrelated. Go back and look at each and see if you can find clues that make them related.

In the tale, The Psychopath’s Tarot, Kylie wants to use tarot cards to tell the future of the weekend for her and her friends. What question of the future would you ask?

The Psychopath’s Tarot ends on a cliffhanger. What happened next?

The Happy Birthday Man Birthday Camp ends on a cliffhanger. What happened next?

On page 163, in the tale Strange Clay, the author writes “You don’t get to complain if you don’t try.”  How did this lead to trouble for Isaac?

Revenge is an ongoing theme throughout Tales to Keep You Up at Night. What has this book taught you about revenge?

Is Amelia a hero or villain?  Why?

You now know what Grandma and Grandpa did for their family. What would you do for your family?

The author writes “Ideas only spread when you share them” in the last chapter. Tell how this can be a good or a bad thing.

Describe something you learned in this book that can help you in life.

Book Talk Teasers:

Read the reader’s theater for Tales to Keep You Up at Night.

Watch the book trailer on the Texas Bluebonnet Award YouTube Channel.

Watch the author's interview on the Texas Bluebonnet Award YouTube Channel.

Middle Grade Ninja Episode 189 with Dan Poblocki. (2:08)

https://youtu.be/zsN2SeFuIqU

Read Alikes: 

Enchanted Books

Luper, Eric. The mysterious moonstone. Neither Cleo nor Evan like the new school librarian, Ms. Crowley, but they are very curious about where she disappears to at the back of the library, so one day they follow her--and find a secret door, a magical library full of locked books, and a letter from the previous librarian telling them that she is trapped somewhere between the covers of one of the enchanted books, and they must travel through the stories in order to save her. (NoveList)

Noel, Alyson. Field guide to the supernatural universe. "When 12-year-old Max is sent to live with his eccentric grandfather for the summer, he finds himself on an unlikely quest to uncover an enchanted book that contains the key to defeating an unearthly nemesis". (NoveList)

Riley, James. Story thieves. Except for reading the Kiel Gnomenfoot magic adventure series, Owen's life is boring until he sees his classmate Bethany climb out of a book in the school library and he learns that Bethany is half-fictional and has been searching every book she can find for her missing father, a fictional character. (NoveList)

Enchanted Places

Kerr, Philip. The most frightening story ever told. "Scary-story enthusiast Billy Shivers helps out when the Haunted House of Books threatens to go out of business"--. (NoveList)

West, Jacqueline. The shadows. When eleven-year-old Olive and her distracted parents move into an old Victorian mansion, Olive finds herself ensnared in a dark plan involving some mysterious paintings, a trapped and angry nine-year-old boy, and three talking cats. (NoveList)

Reviews:

Poblocki, Dan. Tales to Keep You Up at Night. Penguin Random House/Penguin Workshop, 2022.

Tales to Keep You Up at Night.

By Dan Poblocki (author) Marie Bergeron (illustrator)

Penguin Random House/Penguin Workshop, 2022. 262p. $17.99 (9780593387474) Grades 2-5.

Additional Review Available

• Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 07/01/22

• Kirkus Reviews, 06/01/22

• Publishers Weekly Annex, 08/15/22