Shivery Shades of Halloween

July 28, 2014
Impish monsters, ghosts, bats, pumpkins, and vampires bring dashes of humor to this color primer, which opens with the question, “What color is Halloween?” In the pages that follow, answers come in the form of often-chilling rhymes that evoke the moods of 10 colors. “Halloween is black. Cat and cauldron,/ Cloak and hat,/ Mouth of cave,/ Vampire bat,/ Inky-slinky, hairy-scary,/ creepy-seepy/ Blot of black,” writes Siddals; elsewhere, she makes the case for red (“Tip of fang,/ Flash of cape,/ Horns and tail,/ A gash, a gape”). Pickering balances out the menace in some of the rhymes with cartoon characterizations that are far from frightening—on the “red” spread, a pint-size devil covered in bandages glowers at the vampire on the opposing page who, just maybe, has been testing out his fangs on him. Ages 2–5. Agent: Karen Grencik, Red Fox Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Shannon Associates.

August 1, 2014
Anyone who thought the colors of Halloween were limited to orange and black is obviously mistaken. "What color is Halloween?" is the question posed to readers when they open this book. The clue is in the brightly hued letters in the word "color." Each double-page spread features a new color paired with pithy rhyming verse that dramatically describes it. "Halloween is green. // Eerie glow, / Evil grin, / Vile brew, / Clammy skin." Before the text moves on to the next shade, a nonsensical rhyming phrase sums it up: "Slimy-grimy, queasy-peasy, snotty-rotty / Tinge of green." Siddals is consistent with the structure, frequently creating chuckle-inducing combinations, while Pickering employs his cinematic talents to make the cast of characters friendly and appealing in a Pixar-like way for young readers. The concept title closes with an impressive spell-the result of taking the last line of each spread and listing them together. "Blaze of orange, / Stain of red, / Blot of black, / Smudge of brown, / Glint of yellow, / Wash of blue, / Shroud of gray, / Wisp of white, / Blotch of purple, / Tinge of green- // Shivery shades of HALLOWEEN!" A bright new addition to the Halloween shelves. (Picture book. 4-8)

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August 1, 2014

August 1, 2014

PreS-K-Can colors other than orange and black be associated with Halloween? Upbeat rhymes make the case for a multihued holiday. For instance, blue can be found in "Darkness falling,/Wizard's robe,/Touch of magic,/Crystal globe,/Chilly-spilly, gloomy-doomy, dreary-weary/Wash of blue." Green is in an eerie glow; white is "A skull, a spook/A face gone \\pale..."; and so on. Cartoon illustrations of nonmenacing monsters, as well as an adorably smiling bat-winged, one-eyed creature that appears on every page, soften the edges of what could be macabre verses if they stood on their own, e.g., "burning-churning, blushing-gushing/Stain of red." A nice summary of all the colors appears at the end, as if the aforementioned wizard conjured up a spell to make a perfect Halloween. A solid and fun read-aloud.-Joanna K. Fabicon, Los Angeles Public Library

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