From Publishers Weekly
In zesty, candy-corny poems from a first-time author, a witch places an ad for a "Turbo broomstick (colorAjet)/ With dual exhausts. FM cassette." Dr. Frankenstein shops for heads of cabbage and ears of corn, and a top-notch "Halloweeny Quiz" offers 10 diverting riddle-couplets that work as verse and as a game. The mixed-media cartoons, on white or airbrush-speckled backgrounds, anticipate but never upstage the inventive punch lines. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4-A deliciously silly collection of Halloween poems, rhymes, and jokes. The cover sports the profile of an appropriately green witch with blue lips and sufficiently hairy warts. Her wide grin promises laughter within. In fact, some of the more clever rhymes appear just inside the front and back covers as tombstone epitaphs. For example, "Beneath this slab lies Lennie Lixer. He fell into a concrete mixer. Poor stiff," and "Danny Dimm was not too bright. He ate a stick of dynamite. Rest in Pieces." Longer poems include "Woe Is Me," which chronicles the indignant complaints of an unwilling pumpkin turned jack-o'-lantern, and "There's a Spider on the Ceiling," which describes a speedy and spooky accumulation of spiders in a child's room. The selections have a perfect mix of fright and humor and are most effective when read aloud. Strikingly stylized, angular illustrations are combined with a clever layout. The poem "When a Skeleton Gets Creaky," which recommends a "liniment and coffin syrup" for "aching bones," is set within an illustration of a medicine bottle, and "Bedtime," which warns of hungry "beasties," appears on the coverlet of a coffin-shaped bed with skeleton-head bedposts. Adinolfi's choice of color (shades of green, purple, and orange) also creates a jaunty playfulness. A festive addition to any collection serving young trick-or-treaters.
Alicia Eames, New York City Public Schools Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
