1. September/October 2015 The Horn Book Magazine 67
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TrickArrrTreat.Illustration©2015byAlbertWhitman&Company.
Horn BOO!Don’t be frightened.
The ten (not-so) terrifying tales reviewed by the Horn Book staff
in our annual Halloween roundup are only make-believe.
(Wait, what’s that behind you?)
Carl’s Halloween
by Alexandra Day; illus. by the author
Preschool Ferguson/Farrar 32 pp.
8/15 978-0-374-31082-0 $14.99
When Mom blithely announces that
she’s going over to Grandma’s for a
while and that Rottweiler Carl and his
girl (Good Dog, Carl and sequels) can
hand out the candy to trick-or-treaters,
well, you can see from this Horn Book’s
cover illustration that things don’t go
exactly like that. Carl and the little girl
take over the action in a series of word-
less, sumptuous double-page spreads,
donning the most minimal of costumes
(a necklace for Carl; a hat for the girl)
to join the Halloween festivities. Grati-
fyingly, Carl never looks anything but
doglike, although his facial expressions
belie his care for the girl as he gently
guides—and eventually carries—her
about the neighborhood. Per usual, the
watercolor illustrations are gloriously
hued, the red feather in the girl’s hat
gorgeous against the October evening
sky. roger sutton
Trick ArrrTreat:
A Pirate Halloween
by Leslie Kimmelman;
illus. by Jorge Monlongo
Primary Whitman 32 pp.
9/15 978-0-8075-8061-5 $16.99 g
Six young swashbucklers—including
Toothless Tim, Rude Ranjeet, and
“pirate chief” Charlotte Blue-Tongue—
plunder their neighborhood for candy
on Halloween. The digital palette of
oranges and purples grows darker as
the evening advances and the trick-
or-treaters’ imaginations grow. The
young pirates continue “a-romping”
until a mysterious shadow that may
or may not be a “big black monster,
sly and cunning” gets “the frightened
pirates running.” With its kid-friendly
rhymes and abundance of pirate lingo
(“TRICK ARRR TREAT!”), this appeal-
ing mash-up of Halloween and pirate
Boo!©2015byLesliePatricelli.

2. 68 The Horn Book Magazine September/October 2015 September/October 2015 The Horn Book Magazine 69
HappyHalloween,Witch’sCat!©2015byHarrietMuncaster.
FrightClub.©2015byEthanLong.
themes captures the lighthearted fun of
the holiday. Nothing can deter a band
of pirates…as long as those pirates are
home before dark. molly glover
Tacky and the Haunted Igloo
by Helen Lester;
illus. by Lynn Munsinger
Primary Houghton 32 pp.
7/15 978-0-544-33994-1 $16.99 g
Tacky the Penguin and pals (Happy
Birdday, Tacky!, rev. 7/13, and oth-
ers) get into the Halloween spirit by
decorating their igloo and preparing
trick-or-treat goodies. Actually, his
penguin friends do all the work while
“Snacky Tacky sampled the treats,” etc.
On Halloween night, the haunted igloo
is a spooky success, until three hunters
dressed as ghosts arrive and demand “all
yer yummy treats / Or we do some-
thing skearies.” Not a problem, if there
were any treats left. But wait! Who’s
this “skeary” hunter at the door? Is he
the biggest hunter’s “twin brudder”?
Tacky’s fans will recognize the odd-bird
hero, but it’s enough to scare off the
real hunters. The affectionate text and
nonthreatening illustrations play up the
absurdity of the situation. kitty flynn
Fright Club
by Ethan Long; illus. by the author
Primary Bloomsbury 32 pp.
8/15 978-1-61963-337-7 $16.99 g
e-book ed. 978-1-61963-418-3 $9.99
The first rule of Fright Club: don’t talk
about Fright Club. The next rule? Only
the truly scary can be members. Dis-
crimination! cries a bunny, who wastes
no time seeking representation, then
organizing a demonstration. “HISS,
MOAN, BOO! WE CAN SCARE
TOO!” chant a butterfly, ladybug,
turtle, and squirrel. And scare they do,
disrupting the Fright Club meeting and
proving their fearsome bona fides just in
time for “Operation Kiddie Scare.” It’s a
funny Halloween concept that deliv-
ers, through Long’s spry text—Ghost:
“What are we going to do?!?” Vampire
Vladimir: “NOTHING! If you ignore
cute little critters, they eventually go
away!”—and cartoony digitally colored
(but very sparely, it’s mostly all shadowy
grays) graphite-pencil illustrations.
elissa gershowitz
Scarecrow Magic
by Ed Masessa; illus. by Matt Myers
Primary Orchard/Scholastic 32 pp.
7/15 978-0-545-69109-3 $16.99 g
Stripping off his layers of straw and
clothing, a skeleton finishes his workday
as a scarecrow and meets up with
“ghoulies and ghosties” to “dance under
the moon.” A large cast of monsters
(furry, scaly, two-headed, or giant)
spend all night with the scarecrow, play-
ing games (including hide-and-seek and
jacks) and fighting mock battles until
the sun starts to rise. Myers’s inventive
“troublesome” creatures and ecstatically
animated skeleton are depicted through
strong black outlines and thick, bold
strokes. The rhyming (though occasion-
ally stumbling) text and playful illustra-
tions make this a festive read-aloud.
siân gaetano
Peanut Butter and Brains:
A Zombie CulinaryTale
by Joe McGee;
illus. by Charles Santoso
Primary Abrams 32 pp.
8/15 978-1-4197-1247-0 $16.95
While the rest of the horde demands
“BRAINSSSSS” for “breakfast, lunch,
and dinner,” all zombie Reginald wants
is a good ol’ PB&J. After striking out
at the corner café, the school cafeteria,
and the grocery store, Reginald lurches
toward a little girl and her paper-bag
lunch—sending the townspeople into
a panic. But this humorous story ends
happily for everyone once the other
zombies get a taste of the classic sand-
wich. The illustrations’ rounded shapes
and pastel watercolor washes portray
zombies who are more cute than scary,
and full of personality. Signs and
balloons with images of brains inside
cleverly communicate the zombies’
food preferences in a nonverbal way—
after all, zombies aren’t very articulate.
katie bircher
Happy Halloween,Witch’s Cat!
by Harriet Muncaster;
illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary Harper/HarperCollins 32 pp.
7/15 978-0-06-222916-8 $15.99
In I Am a Witch’s Cat, readers first met
the imaginative little girl who enthu-
siastically maintains, “My mom is a
witch, and I am her special witch’s cat.”
In this outing, Halloween approaches,
and the mother-daughter team heads to
the costume shop, where the girl gives
an array of options a whirl: “Maybe a
silver skeleton? / Too bony! How about
a pink ballerina? / Too frilly!” Her final
decision is a satisfying, gentle twist on
the story’s premise. This book’s standout
feature is Muncaster’s unique, end-
lessly perusable art: three-dimensional
scenes combined with mixed-media flat
illustrations and textured fabrics, photo-
graphed and digitized. katrina hedeen
Boo!
by Leslie Patricelli; illus. by the author
Preschool Candlewick 28 pp.
7/15 978-0-7636-6320-9 $6.99
In this board-book treat, Patricelli’s
diapered baby picks a “just right”
pumpkin, helps Daddy carve a familiar-
looking jack-o’-lantern (a pumpkin
selfie, if you will), and chooses a scary
costume: “W-w-what’s that? Oh. It’s
only me.” Trick-or-treating with Daddy
is a bit spooky, too, until the little
ghostie discovers there’s candy involved.
The lively color-saturated illustrations
play off the simple, direct text, adding
humor and silliness to the mix. Two
interactive double-page spreads—“How
should we carve our jack-o’-lantern?”
Headerartonpages68–70fromBoo!©2015byLesliePatricelli.

3. 70 The Horn Book Magazine September/October 2015
TheLittleShopofMonsters.Illustration©2015byMarcBrown.
and “What should I be?”—involve
young listeners in the fun and prep
newbies for these holiday highlights.
kitty flynn
The Little Shop of Monsters
by R. L. Stine;
illus. by Marc Brown
Primary Little, Brown 40 pp.
8/15 978-0-316-36983-1 $17.00 g
Two children’s literature icons team up
to create this funny-scary adventure.
“If you think you’re brave enough, then
come with me” to the Little Shop of
Monsters. Two children—a boy, reluc-
tant; and a younger girl, more daring—
view the shop’s merchandise, from the
Snacker (whose favorite treat is hands)
to the Sleeper-Peeper (who hides under
kids’ beds). The litany of introductions
settles into a predictable pattern—until
the clever twist at the end, which will
have readers quickly turning the last
page (“Phew! You just escaped!”). Stine’s
direct-address text is pitched for deli-
cious thrills and chills, while Brown’s
cheery palette and over-the-top depic-
tions of the monsters offset the terror
just enough. martha v. parravano
ThereWas an Old Mummy
Who Swallowed a Spider
by Jennifer Ward; illus. by Steve Gray
Preschool, Primary Two Lions 32 pp.
7/15 978-1-4778-2637-9 $16.99 g
“There was an old mummy… / who
swallowed a spider. / I don’t know why
he swallowed the spider. / Open wider!”
Anyone familiar with the original
folksong can guess what happens next
in this twisted twist: the mummy’s belly
(or what used to be his belly) is soon
full of things that go bump in the night.
The new rhymes have a few bumps, too,
but this mummy tale is wrapped up
perfectly. (Ironically, the macabre end-
ing of the original would be redundant
here.) Cartoonish digital illustrations use
lots of wide, fearful eyes and luminous
backgrounds to make the graveyard and
haunted-castle settings glow with Hal-
loween anticipation. shoshana flax
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