ShareThisBy KAREN MACPHERSON
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Celebrate the season of witches, ghosts and goblins with some of these great new Halloween books for kids of all ages:
_ Best-selling children's author/illustrator Karen Katz offers the littlest readers a Halloween book full of flash and dazzle in "Where Is Baby's Pumpkin?" (Little Simon, $6.99). Babies and toddlers will delight in the lift-the-flap format, as well as the soft, sparkling cat costume worn by the baby and the brightly colored foil insets of caramel apples, bats and, of course, pumpkins. (Ages infant-2.)
_ Gently spooky poems first published years ago by the late children's poet Lilian Moore get an updated look in "Beware, Take Care" (Henry Holt, $16.95). Readers will love poems like "Pop Goes the Dragon," in which a dragon uses his flame to cook popcorn, and "The Ghost Goes to the Supermarket." Howard Fine's illustrations bring out the humor and fun of Moore's poetry, although his gray-toned charcoal-and-gouache artwork may not appeal to all tastes. (Ages 4-8.)
_ Author/illustrator Adam Rex has a field day poking fun at monsters like Dracula, Wolfman and Bigfoot in his hilarious new book, "Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich" (Harcourt, $16). Using rhyming verse and a variety of illustration styles, Rex offers a "menu" of 21 stories. One of the stories, focused on the "Phantom of the Opera," provides a laugh-out-loud running joke throughout the book. Although this is a picture book, it isn't for preschoolers. Instead, it's just right for elementary school and even middle-school students who will revel in the often-outrageous comedy of Rex's writing and artwork. (Ages 5-12.)
_ Cat owners will readily identify with the dilemma of a witch who owns a disobedient cat in "The Curious Demise of a Contrary Cat" (Simon & Schuster, $12.95). As author Lynne Berry shows, the witch eventually decides it's time for drastic action. Young readers will enjoy reciting Berry's deliberately repetitive text, and laughing at debut illustrator Luke LaMarca's unusual black-and-white artwork. (Ages 3-7.)
_ Everyone in town is terrified of the "witch lady," who lives in a ramshackle house and is rumored to keep children in cages. But as Louanne Pig discovers, the witch lady actually is just a lonely woman whose cages house beautiful birds. In "Louanne Pig In Witch Lady" (Carolrhoda, $15.95), author/illustrator Nancy Carlson uses her trademark brief text and colorful artwork to tell a different kind of Halloween story. (Ages 3-7.)
_ If your little ones aren't ready for spooky stories, try "The Very Brave Witch" (Simon & Schuster, $12.95). Author Alison McGhee and illustrator Harry Bliss team up to tell the story of a young witch and a little girl who discover that they aren't so different after all. (Ages 3-6.)
_ A brother alternately terrifies and reassures his younger sister in the comic "Oh No, Not Ghosts!" (Harcourt, $16). Written by Richard Michelson and illustrated by Adam McCauley, this book mixes typical sibling rivalry with an entertaining look at Halloween creatures like witches, werewolves and skeletons. (Ages 4-7.)
_ Cornelia Funke, the best-selling author of such books as "The Thief Lord" and "Dragon Rider," offers a fast-paced new paperback series called "Ghosthunters." So far, two books are available in the series: "Ghosthunters and the Incredibly Revolting Ghost!" and "Ghosthunters and the Gruesome Invincible Lightning Ghost!" (published by Chicken House/Scholastic and priced at $4.99 each). Both books detail the adventures of a boy named Tom and a ghosthunter named Hetty Hyssop who track down ghosts causing mischief and mayhem. Numerous black-and-white illustrations done by Funke, a trained artist, add greatly to the fun of these books. (Ages 7-10.)
_ Tom Golden has a happy secret: he's got an invisible ghostly best friend named Grey Arthur. But Tom isn't too pleased when Grey decides to start a School for Invisible Friends. Yet, as author Louise Arnold shows in "Golden & Grey: The Nightmares That Ghosts Have" (McElderry/Simon & Schuster, $16.99), Grey's idea turns out to be a very good thing _ both for stopping the mysterious disappearances of many ghosts and for helping Tom's parents to keep their home. This second volume of Tom and Grey's adventures is as readable as the first as Arnold deftly blends fantasy with a look at school-age issues like bullying. (Ages 8-12.)
_ Two wonderfully frightening new books are aimed at teens. In "All Hallow's Eve" (Harcourt, $17), author Vivian Vande Velde presents 13 stories designed to keep readers up at night. And in "Scary Stories" (Chronicle, $16.95), artist Barry Moser offers some gruesome new illustrations for classic stories like "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe. (Ages 13 up.)
(Karen MacPherson, the children's/teen librarian at the Takoma Park, Md. Library, can be reached at Kam.macpherson(at)gmail.com.)
