LITTLE HALLOWEEN

A sturdy little book of easy-to-solve Halloween riddles in rhyme.

Each page features a riddle in four rhyming lines, with the answer appearing on the back of the page. The rhymes, while uninspired and awkward, present riddles that are easily solvable by preschoolers, and the answers cover standard Halloween ground: Witches, ghosts, scarecrows, the moon, candy, costumes, cats, pumpkins, and trick or treat all make an appearance. Each riddle is printed on a white rectangle positioned directly on top of an illustration, presumably so that the answer to the riddle is not revealed until the page is turned, but the design serves only to annoy readers (who are likely to mistake the rectangles for flaps and futilely try to grab them and move them out of the way). The illustrations are serviceable. A companion title, Little Dance (978-1-58536-884-6), follows the exact format. However, its riddles are tougher, and while Little Halloween is gender-neutral, this one is clearly being marketed toward girls as it is drenched in pink and features girl dancers only.

Skip this one and check out Steven Kroll’s The Biggest Pumpkin Surprise Ever!, illustrated by Jeni Bassett (2012), for a gentle introduction to Halloween for little ones.