Halloween comes early to Borders

Nearly 20 Bloomington children and their parents journeyed to Borders on Saturday for some pre-Halloween fun.

The event was led by graduate student and Borders employee Jenn Brassil.

She said the store works to organize many events for their patrons throughout the year.

“We have the Spooktacular Halloween celebration every year,” she said.
Borders tries to let customers know about the event by telling people in the store and sending out e-mails.

Shawna Roberts, one of the mothers in attendance, said she heard about the event through e-mail and decided to bring her 4-year-old daughter Paige to the event.

“Her favorite place is the bookstore,” Roberts said. “We usually choose three books: a picture book, a story book and then she chooses one.”

The children came in costumes that ranged from zombies to princesses. Paige dressed as an emperor penguin and even showed off her penguin-like waddle.

The event began with Brassil reading a story in which the children were characters in the story while she created sound effects.

The children also played a memory game. They stood in a circle and named off things they could get when they go trick-or-treating.

The trick was that they started with A and went to Z and each child would not only have to add a new treat, but also remember the previous treats of the other children.

The children then lined up and paraded through the store. Each child led the parade for 10 steps around the store.

The last event of the day was storytelling and coloring.

The kids colored pumpkins, haunted houses and Frankenstein, while Brassil read “The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything,” “Runaway Mummy” and “Boris and Bella.”

The books all told fun Halloween stories with lively illustrations.

“I like the books,” Paige said.

Her favorite Halloween book from the event was “Runaway Mummy.”

“Borders’ mission is to provide a center of knowledge and entertainment,” Brassil said.