THE CHIZZYWINK AND THE ALAMAGOOZLUM

Zeke and Zelda have just bundled themselves into bed when a voice outside calls, ""Let me in! I want to sip your sweet blood! Yum!"" So begins this spooky yam, seasoned with colloquialisms that give it the flavor of a folktale. Undaunted by the haunt, Zelda orders Zeke to pile on the counterpanes and fetch the hound to guard the door. Back to sleep they go, only to be awakened again and again by the voice. Finally, desperate for sleep, they fling the door open. In comes not a specter, but a chizzywink--a mosquito--which they sate with alamagoozlum (maple syrup) before sweeping it back into the night. Bender paints the characters vividly and dramatically against the fittingly murky background of the dark woods outside. The pages are scary enough to give readers shivers, but never downright chills.