MOUSE’S FIRST HALLOWEEN

A tiny mouse’s gently scary investigation of typical Halloween encounters reveals calming answers to worrisome possibilities. “ ‘Eeek!’ Mouse squeaked. What could it be?” repeat as easily remembered choral responses as Mouse questions each potentially scary noise. (Something's flitting! Then rustling! Flapping, dropping, sneaking, flickering, thumping!) The dark hues of a spooky night permeate Erdogan’s full-bleed illustrations, in which alternate spreads set up fearful situations, only to deflate them into something that's “not so scary after all” with the flip of the page to the next spread. The juxtaposition of the tiny mouse against large, looming objects increases the sense of foreboding. Typographics like the circular display of the word “jack-o’-lantern” or the tumbling letters of “Falling apples” enliven the look of Mouse’s second foray into the two-legged world by this author/illustrator team (Mouse’s First Christmas, 1999). Plug in a narrator or two, a mouse, movements from creative dramatics, and those repeating refrains, and a read-aloud session for pre-schoolers could spark to life. The book will reassure timorous listeners in both individual and group settings about a meant-to-be-spooky holiday—and perhaps even provide by extension a means of lessening fearfulness in other “scary” situations they encounter. (Picture book. 2-6)