Shivery Shades of Halloween by Mary McKenna Siddals (review)

This creative color concept book uses Halloween as a vehicle for exploring a wide spectrum of shades. Opening with the question “What color is Halloween?”, the author then goes through a gamut of colors, offering lush, descriptive language in playful rhyming verses (“Halloween is gray./ Tombstone, gargoyle,/ Dungeon wall,/ Rats and rubble,/ Haunted hall/ Dusty-fusty, dimly-grimly, shady-fraidy/ Shroud of gray”). Boldly hued digital compositions in full-bleed spreads are on the slick side, but they’re certainly eyecatching. The depictions of spooky Halloween characters are definitely more silly than scary, making this an excellent choice for little ones, and visual clues to help with the less familiar references in the text. There is plenty of readaloud potential here, and the book would also serve as an excellent springboard for October writing assignments.