Halloween Night on Shivermore Street

August 9, 2004
This hokey harvest romp, which boasts the season's corniest title, tolls the hours from six to 13 o'clock. Three costumed children carve pumpkins and bob for apples with other revelers, but when they cry, "Everyone in your place?/ Now—take off your face!," they realize their cheerful playmates are real witches and vampires. Pollack and Belviso (the Dexter's Lab books) set the scenes to bouncy limericks, and DuBurke's (The Moon Ring
) firelit acrylics lend a ghoulish glow to the theatrical holiday; his human characters pale next to his creepy creatures' portraits. As in previous years' Brooms Are
for Flying
and The Witch Casts a Spell
—both of which are more surprising—the punch line relies on the unmasking. Ages 4-8.

August 1, 2004
PreS-Gr 2-Three children arrive at a masquerade ball at six o'clock for an evening of creepy fun. Activities are described in rhyme by the hour and include typical holiday fare such as pumpkin carving, bobbing for apples, and playing hide-and-seek. However, when the clock strikes 13 and it's time to unmask, the kids realize that the monstrous characters with whom they have been making merry are not in costume at all. Quite naturally, they scurry out into the night as fast as their legs will carry them. This lighthearted romp is highlighted by illustrations that set an appropriately spooky mood. Richly colored scenes show vampires hovering over jack-o'-lanterns on a bright orange spread, goofy looking werewolves bobbing for apples, and mummies doing the limbo. While not an essential purchase, the incorporation of telling time into the story makes this entry in a crowded field a little different.-Rosalyn Pierini, San Luis Obispo City-County Library, CA

Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2005
A trio of young friends attend a masquerade ball on Halloween night. As the hours pass, they bob for apples, play hide-and-seek, and square dance. When the clock chimes thirteen, the partygoers remove their masks to reveal a surprise that sends the three friends running out the door. The clunky rhymed text is accompanied by greeting cardstyle art.

(Copyright 2005 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)