Boo to You!

Where can Duck and Goose find a pumpkin? Young children will delight in the search and rejoice when the silly friends find their pumpkin. Autumnal colors and a simple, predictable text make an engaging book for the very young.

Boo, the smallest in his ghost family, enjoys the first time he’s allowed to stay up late whistling a “happy-ghost-lucky time.” He doesn’t think he can sleep until his wise mother helps him listen for comfy night sounds. Soft lines and gentle forms illustrate the gently rhyming onomatopoetic language for a mellow, non-scary Halloween story for younger children.

Mice prepare to celebrate Halloween, first by finding pumpkins, using them for decorations, and finally unveiling a huge Jack-o-lantern! Festive illustrations on sturdy pages encourage close examination and active participation as children lift flaps to reveal hidden surprises.

Angelito Diaz along with his skeleton family celebrates the Day of the Dead in the Land of the Living — and he was scared. Angelito isn’t nearly as frightened after he meets Pablo — and overcomes his fear of the living. Colorful, stylized illustrations and a brief note about the Mexican Day of the Dead/El Dia los Mueros conclude this recognizable story.

This silly-spooky parody of Ludwig Bemelman’s Madeline (opens in a new window) emulates the original’s cadence, storyline and illustration but with a decidedly Halloween-y twist. It begins, “In a creepy old castle/all covered in spines/lived twelve ugly monsters in two crooked lines… The ugliest one was Frankenstein.” It is sure to amuse even those not familiar with the original.

Nothing suggests Halloween like a picture of a fierce or funny Jack-o-lantern, a sky full of bats or ghosts. What would a Halloween night be without a witch, a haunted house or a graveyard? Readers can create these and other signs of the celebration line by line, perhaps individualize them, and read other “spook-tacular books”.

A trick-or-treater leaves the city for a forest of bones and a deliciously creepy Halloween adventure. No number of skeletons can scare this child who shakes his own bones and is rewarded after he chants, “Trick or treat! Smell my feet! Give me something good to eat!” Lively illustration adds detail to the rhythmic text, ideal for reading aloud.

On Halloween night, children dress up in costumes to go trick or treating. Young children will enjoy guessing what outfit the child is donning, beginning with a rhyming clue which is solved with a turn of the page. Cozy illustrations are just right for this not-very-scary Halloween tale, sure to engage younger children.

Madcap illustrations bring hilarious new life to the 1962 song, “Monster Mash.” It all begins with a bulbous scientist “working in the lab late one night” when his monster arose from his slab and begins to dance the monster mash. Other monsters — and finally two human children — join the green Frankenstein-like critter for colorful, frenzied fun.

Grouch, Grump, and two-headed little Gloom ‘n’ Doom — three crabby monsters — tried to create the “biggest, baddest monster EVER!” When the huge monster comes alive his first words are “Dank you!” causing the cantankerous little monsters to succumb to his kind ways. Cartoon line and wash illustrations and understated text present a pleasing monster saga.