Halloween

Children's Literature

Billed as one of the titles in the "Wonder Books" series, this is a nonfiction, Level 2 offering. That means it has more complex topics and sentence structure, but it is still a fairly easy book to read. The facts about Halloween are presented, such as the date, noting that the colors black and orange are usually associated with the holiday, pumpkins are carved into jack-o'-lanterns, and kids dress up in costumes and may go to parties or out trick-or-treating. The emphasis is on fun and that is all that is ever said about the holiday; nothing is included about its origins or what the meaning of certain symbols and colors might be. One item of confusion is that the name of the author on the cover and spine is Kathryn Kyle, but the title page has two different names. Also interesting is that the picture on the opening page shows the same two kids who appear in Natalie M. Rosinsky's book with the same title from Compass Point Books. There is an index, list of places to go to find out more (books and Web sites) and a note to parents and educators, as well as some information about the authors. Of marginal value overall. 2003, The Child's World,
— Marilyn Courtot

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2-These series entries each consist of 10 spreads with a photo or painting on one side and one or two sentences in large print on the other. Halloween focuses on traditions and activities; Thanksgiving covers history and customs. While these titles may be of some use for beginning-reader classroom collections, they offer little to the breadth and scope of holiday books for libraries.-Janie Schomberg, Leal Elementary School, Urbana, IL Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.