Amazon.com Review
"It was cool and hazy on Halloween night / The silvery moon shed a ghostly white light. / As the fog billowed in and bats flitted about, / Trick-or-treat piggies got dressed to step out." So begins
John Pig's Halloween, Jan L. Waldron and illustrator David McPhail's monster-rich holiday alternative to the popular
Angel Pig and the Hidden Christmas. John Pig, curled up in the shadows as his buddies don towering chapeaus and tangerine bows, tells his fellow pigs he is too tired to go trick-or-treating. The truth is, he's too scared. As the "gussied-up piggies all bid John adieu," he resigns himself to a long, lonely night of sulky pumpkin carving. A "Kaboom!!!" jolts John from his reverie, however, as an actual broomstick-riding, treat-seeking witch-pig crashes into the house. Disgusted with John Pig's trick-or-treat offerings of red licorice ribbons and rock candy, she hastily enlists the bewildered piglet in a pie-baking, cookie-making frenzy. The resulting aromas lure the witch's ghoulish friends from far and wide for a veritable monster mash of howling, slurping, waltzing, and oozing. Of course, they disappear out the back door as John's friends come in through the front: "John's housemates returned with stuffed bags and cold toes, / With Popsicle noses and lopsided bows. / 'Poor John,' they all sighed. 'He has
really missed out. / 'He's skipped Halloween and been lonely, no doubt.'" Ha! This warm, richly illustrated book is perfect for the child who revels in the delicious creepiness of Halloween... but not
too much. (Ages 4 and older)
--Karin Snelson
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-John, a scaredy-cat pig, is afraid to go trick-or-treating with his friends and hides in the safety of his home until the front door starts creaking. A porcine witch appears, cooks up some treats, and soon his house is full of ghoulish beasts. While the guests eat and party, John gets in the groove, finding there's nothing to fear from this motley crew or Halloween. McPhail's watercolor-and-pen art extends and enriches the text. His expressive hallmark pigs demonstrate feelings children can easily identify with and his monsters are portrayed as fun-loving creatures. Waldron's rhymes, in the sometimes-strained style of the "Night Before Christmas," beg to be read aloud. While the writing is not as successful as in the author's Angel Pig (Dutton, 1997), this book has broad appeal for groups and individual reading.
Susan M. Moore, Louisville Free Public Library, KYCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
