A pun-derstorm of wordplay that celebrates quality family time as well as spooky season.
Halloween wouldn’t be the same without candy, costumes, and, in this case, comedy.
A pale-skinned, red-haired family eagerly awaits a fun evening of trick-or-treating. Throughout the night, Dad, dressed as a ghost, assails his family with groan-worthy puns. (“Guess what I use to wash my hair…Sham BOO! It makes it BOOtiful.”) As the family goes from house to house, Dad keeps up a running commentary peppered with a nonstop stream of puns. “Spooooo-key,” he says as Mom locks the door. He points out that the cemetery is “a great place for stories” (because it has “so many plots”), and he proposes “ghost chicken and grave-y” for dinner. As the night comes to a close, the family collapses on the couch and falls asleep amid a pile of candy wrappers while Dad continues with the wisecracks. Germein’s first-person text, told from the perspective of one of the children, is filled with relentless quips and wordplay; enjoyment will vary depending upon the reader’s tolerance for dad jokes. While Jellett’s enthusiastic digital art, rendered in a palette of warm, seasonally appropriate colors, feels a bit crowded at times due to Germein’s text—presented in variously sized fonts—it nevertheless captures the bustle of Halloween night as well as a fun family dynamic, though some especially corny lines will elicit the occasional eye roll.
A pun-derstorm of wordplay that celebrates quality family time as well as spooky season. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9781761601606
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walker Books Australia
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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