The Story of Halloween (Paperback)

~ (Author), Linda Bronson (Illustrator) "Grinning jack-o'-lanterns. Crowds of clowns, monsters, fairy princesses, and space travelers tramping through crunchy leaves..." (more)
Key Phrases: Great Britain, United States

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-5–Beginning with the Celtic feast of Samhain, and continuing through the ages to today's traditions of trick-or-treating and collecting pennies for UNICEF, Greene offers a straightforward and engaging history of Halloween. Throughout the book, she compares the feasts of long ago with traditions today, and along the way explains the origin of bobbing for apples, fortune-telling traditions, jack-o'-lanterns, and Halloween mischief. Pumpkin art and riddles appear at the end. While colorful and appealing, Bronson's full-page illustrations do little to illuminate the text. Despite the abundance of books on this topic, this title offers a great deal of information in an engaging and not overwhelming fashion.–Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Maryland School for the Deaf, Columbia
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 3-5. In this picture book for older children, the origins of Halloween get a straightforward, attractively designed treatment. Greene begins 2,000 years ago with the Celts, who ended their year on October 31 as their druid priests lit bonfires to protect the people from creatures such as ghosts and elves. She then follows the holiday as it evolved through a Roman harvest ceremony, the Catholic All Saints' Day, and pieces of English, French, and Irish holy days. When the Irish emigrated to the U.S., they brought the holiday with them, including accoutrements such as jack-o'-lanterns. Toward the end, as Greene talks about pranksters doing real damage with tricks, her writing becomes a little fuzzy: "And it was no longer safe for young children to go trick-or-treating." That blanket statement segues into the way communities have dealt with the safety issue, though the book never acknowledges that in some places children continue to trick-or-treat. Bronson's seasonally colored artwork, accented with purples, uses exaggerated shapes and perspectives for a fresh, modern look. Riddles and projects round out the fun. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 40 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (September 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064437744
• ISBN-13: 978-0064437745
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,155,233 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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