THE STORY OF HALLOWEEN

Bonfires and full moons cast elongated, autumnal contact shadows in the glowing, curvy, stylized pictures that decorate this simple history of Halloween and its revelers. Beginning with the ancient Celtic/Druid tradition honoring summer’s end, and briefly considering the traditions of the early Romans, the British, the Irish, and Americans, Greene touches on the evolution of some of the customs and conventions of the long-celebrated change-of-seasons festival. Superstition and spirits, pumpkins and pranksters are included in the 18 pages of text, along with three ideas for jack-o’-lanterns and eight riddles, among them: “What is a spook’s favorite dessert? I scream.” There is no new trick here (except, perhaps, for the author’s assertion, unsubstantiated, that what readers may recognize as a lyric from the familiar carol, “Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat . . . ” is indeed a traditional English Halloween ditty). It’s Bronson’s motion-filled, Miró-esque art of purples, oranges, yellows, and greens that’s the treat. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-10)