The Tailypo: A Ghost Story (Clarion books)

Having looked everywhere for a really scary book for Halloween we found this one which is just perfect for a really spooky read. This book begins with an old man in little cabin, deep in the woods. He lives alone with his three hunting dogs and depends on hunting for his food. After a very poor days hunting, with only one scrawny rabbit for his dinner, and feeling quite hungry one night a strange creature comes into his cabin. He snatches up his axe and has a go at the creature but is only able to chop off the tail, which he promptly throws in his pot and eats. But an empty belly would definitely have been a much easier problem to sort than he has now as he keeps hearing "Scratch, scratch, scratch" and then "Tailypo tailypo all I want is my tailypo".The illustrations in this book are just perfect and just enough of the creature is shown to build up tensions. The book reads much like a campfire story and is really great fun for children who like horror stories.I would most strongly recommend against this book for easily frightened children though, or for parents who do not like gruesome books. I would also caution that while there are no pictures of the actual outcome of hunting, it is mentioned.When we first bought this, my boys were 5 and 7. The oldest really enjoyed this book - even if he did pull the quilts up and sink into the bed, and asked for it again. I don't believe the two year old really caught on to the story, but he liked the creepy voices and wailing. Two years later - this is still a favourite even though my oldest rarely reads or listens to picture books anymore. He can still have fun reading this to his brother and my 4 year old loves it and the boys will roam the house moaning "Tailypo - tailypo - All I want is my tailypo!"I thought it was pretty good as well and fits the bill of a spooky tale for young children. It is not a ghost story though as it says. There is no mention of a ghost anywhere, only a strange creature. I would say most people will either really like this book or despise it, depending on whether they like scary stories in general. I would recommend it though for a scary read at Halloween, or even better for a camp out. I haven't really found any other scary picture books to match this yet. This one is definitely the best scary story I have found to date for very young children.The Tailypo is an old story from Appalachian folklore. It has not been tamed down at all like so many of the old stories but retains all it's original spine tingling terror for the very young.

I read this book when I was a child and loved it so much I bought it for my kids and they too loved it. It’s a classic ghostly story!

Twenty plus years ago when I was little (little enough to be allowed to walk to the library and home again anyway). I came across this book in the children's section of the library. From the cover it looked like a sweet adorable fluffy animal to my little mind and read it right there and then.I was so wrong, couldn't sleep for months for fear of The Tailypo.This book has always stuck to the back of my mind and even into my 30's so I was happy to one day get this book for my very own, and to maybe pass extra copies of it down to younger generations to give them the scare I once had.

I remember reading this in middle-school as a child. Anyone that read it was a little scared by it. I used to read all sorts of Stephen King and James Herbert books raided from my parents book shelf as a (far too) young child, but I still remember this book, mostly because of the fantastic illustrations.I bought this for nostalgia, but maybe if I have a child, I'll read it to them to give them a good scare :)

This was the very first ‘horror’ story that had me hooked as a child 👍 My son loves it too 🤗

Another childhood favourite and classic story especially if you do a good voice for the end line

A favourite story from childhood. Good price and quick delivery.

To read to my grandchildren

I remember reading this book when I was a kid and am so happy I get to share a piece of my childhood with my kids. They really enjoyed the story!

This book was available in my daughters' school library. They each brought it home at one time or another. In fact, I think it was a rite of passage for many children at Bryker Woods! It is a scary little story. I recently purchased the book because I took a picture of my dog that reminded me of the Tailypo book. I HAD to have the book so I could read it again. I'm saving it and hoping for grandchildren some day - or grand nieces/nephews - or the right age children to babysit. I don't recommend it for an easily frightened child - but the average 6-8 year old will just love it (an apparently, so will some mothers!).

Really scared my kids! We loved it!

Just the right amount of scary for little kids. I read this book to many classes while I was teaching. I would hide the pictures, so that they had to use their imagination to draw a picture of what they thought the tailypo looked like. I told them to pay attention to the description as I read the story. The pictures they drew were great! Now I have shared it with my grandchildren. For little ones it is just a little bit scary enough to thrill of them for Halloween.

Really good book, especially for a child’s first scary story