WHAT A SCARE, JESSE BEAR

In a bouncing rhyme, Jesse Bear (Let’s Count It Out, Jesse Bear, 1996, etc.) celebrates Halloween. As usual, Jesse has the niftiest of festivities while solving a very typical child difficulty. He goes with his parents and grandmother to pick their own pumpkin, comes home to carve it, and then goes up to the attic. It’s a veritable treasure trove of stuff, and Papa and Mama dress up in vampire fangs and tutu. Jesse is overcome by his own scary mask, but is soon reassured by the familiarity of neighbors, parents, and friends in costume. Pumpkin lights festoon a trellis, neighbors sing a “wobbly goblin song,” and Jesse and his parents go home to a feast made by his grandparents. It’s a dream Halloween, indeed. (Picture book. 3-6)