GUS AND GRANDPA AND THE HALLOWEEN COSTUME

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GUS AND GRANDPA AND THE HALLOWEEN COSTUME

Name: GUS AND GRANDPA AND THE HALLOWEEN COSTUME
Author: Claudia Mills
ISBN: 0-374-32816-1

by Claudia Mills & illustrated by Catherine Stock ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 26, 2002

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Gus and his grandfather celebrate Halloween together in this eighth entry in the series by Mills and Stock (Gus and Grandpa at Basketball, 2001, etc.). Gus has a problem to solve: his parents don’t approve of store-bought Halloween costumes, and they think their son can come up with his own. He appeals to Grandpa, who luckily has a trunk full of family clothing in his attic. Grandpa finds a Canadian Mountie uniform worn by Gus’s father as a Halloween costume when he was a boy. Gus proudly tells his friends, “My grandma made it for Daddy when he was a little boy.” In a satisfying conclusion, Gus’s father takes a picture of his son in the uniform, with Grandpa standing nearby. Mills quietly shows Gus solving his own problem, both in figuring out a suitable costume and in handling how he presents his heirloom costume to his friends. Stock’s understated watercolor illustrations in muted fall tones complement the story well, and she captures Grandpa’s warm affection for his grandson. This mid-level easy reader will also work well as a Halloween read-aloud both for younger children and for the early elementary grades. (Easy reader. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2002

ISBN: 0-374-32816-1

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2002

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

- BOOK REVIEW
CALLIOPE CALLISTO CLARK AND THE SEARCH FOR WISDOM
by Claudia Mills

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LAST APPLE TREE
by Claudia Mills

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LOST LANGUAGE
by Claudia Mills

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CUPID AND PSYCHE

by Marie Charlotte Craft & illustrated by Kinuko Y. Craft ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1996

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Craft's first book is a retelling of the famous story of Psyche, who is so beautiful that Venus, the goddess of beauty, is jealous. She sends her son, Cupid, to punish the mortal, but he falls in love with her. When Psyche fails to trust that love, she must perform seemingly impossible tasks to win Cupid back. The text flows smoothly and retains a touch of formality, giving the story a suitably ancient resonance. The radiant oil- over-watercolor paintings are exquisitely detailed, filled with intricacies that reward long and careful scrutiny. The design of the book is meticulous, from an unusual, yet readable, typeface to the ornate borders, some of which resemble gold jewelry more than paintings. (Picture book/folklore. 6-8)

Pub Date: June 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-688-13163-8

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1996

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

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THE UGLY PUMPKIN

by Dave Horowitz & illustrated by Dave Horowitz ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2005

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A club-shaped pumpkin gets dissed by a customer, all the other pumpkins, even twisted apple trees, before the sight of a motley crop of hubbards, acorns and banana squash brings on a personal epiphany: “O my gosh / I’m a squash.” Endowed with a face and stick limbs, the gnarled narrator sits down at a Thanksgiving table with its new soulmates, then is last seen strolling down the lane hand in hand with a lumpy new friend. Written in doggerel—“A skeleton came for pumpkins / one bright and crispy day. / I asked if I could get a ride . . . / He laughed and said: No Way”—and illustrated in brightly colored paint-and-paper collage, this weak riff on the “Ugly Duckling” may not earn high marks for botanical accuracy (all pumpkins are squash), but it does feature plenty of visual flash. (Picture book. 6-8)