Customer Reviews

A Creepy Countdown

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My daughter, 3 and a half, really enjoys this book. The narrative counts up to ten and then back down, with each page corresponding to a certain nuber of Halloween images-- scarecrows, jack-o-lanters, bats, witches, etc. The artwork, woodcut-looking vignettes that seem to have been scratched out of blackened paper, is crisp and very expressive, eerie without extravagance and yet truly edgy here and there--that vacant but sentient scarecrow, for example, or the chicken legs on the witches' house, or the startled faces on the book's center page. But really, the book is just a fun, aesthetic exploration of one holiday, without anything lasting or engaging about it except for that visual experience. It's excellent among Halloween books, more so for not actually forcing some dopey plot on us, but that's the end. I know I'll look forward to circulating the book into our reading cycle each October, but aside from then.... So it's just shy of 4 stars for me. 3 stars is too low, so we'll say 3 and a half, like my daughter.

A Creepy Countdown involves a scarecrow, two toads, three jack-o-lanterns, four owls, five bats, six witches, seven ghosts, eight cats, nine skeletons and ten mice. I assure you that you're little children will be amazed by the little details of the pencil drawings. What I liked was all of the little grave stones. I was amazed by the excellent rhyming. And if you look very closely at the sides of each page, you can see masks dangling over the trees. Be on the 'look-out' for Jos. A. Smith's drawing book named The Pen and Ink Book. I hope that you have a extraordinary Halloweenific time this Halloween. Boo!

Christmas is on the list and getting special items are the fun of the seasons of the year. Thankyou much.

This is our kids favorite Halloween book. We absolutely love it. Scary enough, but not so much that they wet the bed. The illustrations are OUTSTANDING. I want to rip the pages out, frame them, and hang them on the wall.

"A Creepy Countdown" is certainly all that--and more. Writer Charlotte Huck and illustrator Jos. A. Smith combined to produce a truly creepy countdown from 1 to 10 then back to 1 again.

This is a lap book so that the child can study the pictures carefully if he or she dares. The images are done in pen and ink on scratch board with an overlay of minimal color (actually a thin frame around each picture). These are truly frightening illustrations.

"One tall scarecrow standing on a hill." You know how a clown can be really scary? Try the properly dressed scarecrow propped ominously on a pole, arms extended, legs dangling, hat tipped, coat collar upright in black and white. Ummm, snuggle closer, little one.

"Seven ghastly ghosts rising from their bed." Each has red eyes peering from those twisty drape things. Scary!

Something scares them on the middle double-spread and they all return page by page from whence they came. A creepy book good for a delicious scare!