Halloween Good Night

Starred review from June 26, 2017
A parade of monsters gathers for some hijinks in this delightful bedtime riff on the “Over in the Meadow” nursery rhyme. Counting up to 10, newcomer Grabill introduces the creatures as they head to an unknown destination: “Yonder in the boneyard,/ where the bats swoop and dive,/ breathes an old granny zombie/ with her peeling zomblings five.” Direct address heightens reader anticipation (“Waiting in your closet for your bedtime once again”), but when the tiny werewolves, witches, and other creatures burst into a girl’s bedroom, she’s awake in her bed and not the least bit frightened. Grabill makes an oft-adapted rhyme feel utterly fresh, thanks to some excellent vocabulary choices and the funny exchanges between monsters young and old. Okstad’s scraggily rendered monsters are pink cheeked and cuddle worthy—the book captures the mischievous fun of Halloween, without the accompanying terror. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Victoria Wells Arms, Wells Arms Literary. Illustrator’s agency: the Organisation.

September 1, 2017

PreS-Gr 1-This playful, slightly eerie take on the "Over in the Meadow" rhyme/song opens on Halloween night. "Lurking in the swampland, /lanterns glowing like the sun, /sits a massive mama globster/and her bitty globby one." Among the other monsters joining in the atmospheric holiday countdown are a wee father wood imp and his tiny implings, a wrapped mommy mummy and her bandaged babies, an old granny zombie and her peeling zomblings, and a pale papa vampire and his blood-drinking nine. The creatures large and small are all actively engaged in lurching, racing, soaring, and gliding through town before finding a little girl who gathers all of the ghouls and puts them to bed. "Sleep now, morning's coming.'/you tell your monsters sweet, /so they snuggle into bed/and murmur, 'Trick or treat!' " The digital cartoon art plays with light and shadows as it unfolds across the spreads and adds to the gently spooky ambience. VERDICT A fun storytime read-aloud that's just right for the youngest Halloween revelers.-Luann Toth, School Library Journal

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2017
Grabill and Okstad populate the familiar song "Over in the Meadow" with all manner of beasties and ghouls and things that go bump in the night. "Yonder in the boneyard, / where the bats swoop and dive, / breathes an old granny zombie / with her peeling zombies five. / 'Walk!' seethes the granny. / 'We'll waltz, ' wheeze the five / as they lurch through the streets / crying 'Ghouls, come alive!' " (Yes, the vocabulary is sometimes rather advanced.) From the lesser-known globster (a ghosty octopus), wood imps, and boggarts (not like at Hogwarts) to the more-common werewolves, mummies, and witches, readers will find all manner of Halloween characters in these pages. The scansion falls apart a bit in the last few spreads; one of each of the creatures surround a delighted young white girl in bed, disappointed that their plan to scare her has failed as they count from 10 back down to one, the girl collecting them up and transporting them back to the boneyard, where she tucks them in under a trompe l'oeil page corner. Okstad's digital illustrations are creepy and use shadows to particularly good effect. But they don't always match the text--the child "witchies" sport freckles rather than warts, and the zombies' skin is not peeling. A Halloween song that can break up the ghostly tales at storytime. (Picture book. 4-8)

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