Halloween Night on Shivermore Street

The neighborhood children are excited. There's a Halloween party tonight on Shivermore Street, a haunted-looking house decorated with spider webs, candles and jack-o-lanterns. At six o'clock as directed, the children approach, ready for the party to begin. Every hour, before the clock strikes, there's something new to do: just before seven it's snack time, "sizzling spiders hot out of the pan... whipped cream-colored ants"; before eight it's musical chairs, six frantic witches scrambling for five seats when the music ends. And so it goes, hour after hour, each bringing a scarier game, werewolves bobbing for apples, vampires cutting out pumpkin faces, hide-and-seek in the dark of night. Beware! When the clock strikes twelve, it's time to take off the masks, everyone exposed. As the final chimes begin, all the partygoers gather for the unveiling. The children look around them, their eyes suddenly as big as saucers; it seems these party people are really scary monsters! With a shriek, the neighborhood kids run from the house on Shivermore Street and a Halloween party they'll never forget. In vivid Halloween colors, a pea green moon, a navy blue sky, goblins and ghouls eerie faces lit my orange candlelight, the fanciful illustrations are scary without being frightening, creepy and strange, spine-tingling. Page by page, the party accelerates, until the final countdown. Part of the revelry, the children have no idea what is happening until everyone is unmasked. This entertaining tale delighted my granddaughter as we read, hour by hour, deliciously building up to the midnight surprise. Luan Gaines/ 2005.

While Rebeccasreads screamingly recommends HALLOWEEN NIGHT ON SHIVERMORE STREET for children ages 4 to 8, it can easily enchant any reader with a love for creatively creepy fun. This is one party kids & adults will want to read about over & over again, especially on those moonlit nights leading up to Halloween itself. Do try the whipped-cream-covered ants -- they were simply TO DIE FOR! A fun, bouncy, hair-raising, rhyming tale, illuminated by Randy DuBurke's wild illustrations of all the usual suspects you'd ever hope to encounter at this time of year!