THE NIGHT THE SCARECROW WALKED

He must be tired of standing in one place all the time,"" says Jeff's little sister Libby Lou of the scarecrow near the woods. And that night on Halloween, as the children in costume are heading for the village with their glowing jack-o'-lantern, they see the scarecrow leave its post and approach them ""with stiff, jerky steps."" Frightened into running home, the children next morning discover that the scarecrow is gone from his place--and a man in its ragged clothes passes their house ""in stiff, jerky steps,"" raising his hat as he goes by and squawking ""Caw, caw, caw."" Was it the scarecrow himself or did a tramp steal his clothes? ""Well,"" says Jeff, ""I guess anything could happen on Halloween."" Considering children's willingness to believe just that, this flat-toned teaser could keep pre-Halloween wigglers still for the duration of a group reading. In the end, though, they'll probably find it deficient in shivers.