Friday, June 30, 2006

halloween in June

(Why all the spooky books? Why not?)




Halloween Countdown by Jack Prelutsky. Illustrated by Dan
Yaccarino. 1977; HarperFestival, 2002 (0-06-000512-2) $6.99 board

I have no idea what the original illustrations for this poem were
like, but it's hard to imagine mourning them. As a little boy counts down from "ten ghosts in the pantry" to "one ghost right behind me..." Yaccarino somehow takes simple white blobs with black blobs for
faces and makes them into the silliest, most obnoxious ghosts ever, as they tiptoe-tipblob?--down the stairs, or follow our irritated hero in a conga line. With a simple ABAB rhyme scheme that works perfectly in board book format, and those marvelous ghosts to enjoy, this is a pleasure for adults to read and reread. (2-6)