“Let’s explore a haunted farm.”
Three pale-skinned trick-or-treaters set off. Conroy’s verse is inspired by “Old MacDonald,” making this one a bouncy read-aloud, but this farm’s a bit more unsettling than the one from the beloved nursery rhyme. Supernatural sounds (“With a growl-growl here / and a howl-howl there”) and the refrain, “Eeek-I! Eeek-I! Oh!” anchor the text. In Ilic’s jaggedly stylized illustrations, the kids pass wolves, a scarecrow (and three spiky, smugly undeterred crows) guarding a maze filled with toothy mummies, a witch with rat and cat familiars, and stark, ghost-inhabited trees. Finally, skeletons panic the trio, who abandon their candy-filled buckets. Seeking refuge, they find a derelict barn filled with darting bats. But wait—what’s going on inside? It’s a Halloween party, with cobwebs and light-string decorations and all the creepy critters they encountered earlier grinning and dancing to more festive sounds (“With a boogie here / and a box step there”). Neon-green backgrounds melt into iridescent blue, then shocking fuchsia and fierce crimson, elevating the appropriately eerie, expressionist art. A black cat lurks on virtually every page—yet another element to invite enthusiastic reader participation.
Slightly scary, entirely entertaining interactive Halloween fun. (Picture book. 4-8)–Kirkus Reviews
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