Halloween A B C

My son loved the pictures, and the poems are really spooky. Is a great book!

Lovely! Just Lovely! What a perfect book for reading (for kids to read alone or as a read out loud/story time book). I note that some adult readers were shocked and disturbed by the images and poems and seem to feel this book only has merit if read and enjoyed by older kids. I agree that the sly and dark humor would definitely be appreciated by older kids (10-14), it's still an ABC picture book, and while probably not suitable for all readers, I read this to my 6 and 8 year old and they loved it...the whole idea is that it's different, creepy, and meant to be quite different than your run of the mill ABC books. Parent's should be reading ahead of their kids at all times, KNOW what your kids are reading, I don't censor per se, but I do decided it I think it should be a year or so before my kids read something, or if it's appropriate to the age they are, even if it might be a little disturbing. I'd recommend Halloween ABC in a heartbeat, each parent must decide on their own if it's right for THEIR child. The illustrations and page coloring are spot on for the tone of the poems, and each of those is a perfect little gem of Halloween spookiness, fun for alphabet review AND suitably spooky ookie for the fall/Halloween time of hear! Each letter appears on the page, done in bones, bats, sticks, and other similar items adding additional flair and mood artwork and poems! I like this best as a read aloud and would love to have girl and boy do these as "performance pieces," to see how they interpret them on their own, not just going with how I read them...reading them out loud and giving them life outside of the written word! We'll probably do that closer to Halloween (two a night, one for each kid). Overall, I think these are clever, well written and suitably frightening fun for young readers! I give it an A+! I'll definitely be buying a copy for my collection of picture books!

I'm in high school now, and my interest in things like the banning of books caused me to research the most COMMONLY banned or challenged books. I was shocked to see 'Halloween ABC' on the list. I remembered the book, so I checked around to make sure it was the same one. Coming across this website, I read people's various reviews on it, and noticed that everyone seems to agree that this book is mainly for older children. While I agree that older kids can enjoy this book, I thought I had to say that I have incredibly fond memories of reading it - over and over and over again - during first grade. Niether my mother nor I had any problems with the pictures or the poems in the book. I naturally respect everyone's opinions, but I just had to say that 'Halloween ABC' is simply to good a book to bar from younger kids libraries!

As a big fan of Lane Smith's work, I was instantly attracted to this book. A collector of Halloween picture books, I knew that this book would be a frightfully, wonderful addtion to my collection. The illustrations of this book set the right eerie tone for Halloween. Eve Merriam's poems are wonderfully sinister! I am a 6th grade teacher and will definitely read some of the poems to my class during Halloween week, however I would not recommend this book for young children. The tone of the book is not just scary but sinister, the letter D for instance should never be read aloud to students. It speaks of the demonic characters Beezlebub and Satan. The illustration is wonderful but the words are not appropriate for students. The other letters are not as evil but still conjure up creepy thoughts about Halloween. This is a wonderful addition to a Halloween collection that will be kept on my personal shelf for me to read aloud.

Poet, Eve Merriam, and award winning illustrator, Lane Smith are back with a new "spooked-up" addition of their 1987 stunner, Halloween ABC. Step carefully through this alphabetical collection, if you dare, and read each bone chilling poem. From apples, bats, demons, and ghosts, to nightmares, skeletons, vipers, and witchery, Ms Merriam's rhythmic, rhyming poems are filled with macabre imagery and dark magic that are sure to set your knees knocking, and make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Mr Smith's brilliantly detailed, dark and somber artwork, has been digitally redesigned by Molly Leach, and kids will be mesmerized with each page turn. Perfect for Halloween, or any other terror-packed, moonless night, Spooky ABC is a timeless masterpiece to read aloud and share with friends and family now, and future generations in the years to come.

(...) There is just something of a mismatch between format and audience: The fact that this is in an ABC format makes it seem suited at first glance to ABC-age children.The compact poetry of Eve Merriam and sophisticated illustrations of Lane Smith (done before he was famous) make this a great book for older children who enjoy a slightly gruesome edge to their humor --think the movie Beetlejuice, for example.Lend a copy to the ten-year-old in your life.