Blog Tour: "The 13 Days of Halloween" by Carol Greene & Illustrated by Tim Raglin

"The 13 Days of Halloween" Blog Tour is hosted by Sourcebooks-Jabberwocky.

Initially, Lauryn and Sami were going to participate in the blog tour by themselves as it appeared to be a "younger" book. After Mara and I went over their review with them, we were curious to read it ourselves.  Once we did, it quickly became a "family" review.

First off, you would be very surprised that a children's holiday book could be so delightful.  Sung to the tune of "The 12 Days of Christmas", we actually took turns singing it!  The story is very funny and the illustrations are excellent!

  It is about a ghoul who is trying to win his female ghoul friend's heart with scary, spooky, presents.  The best way to explain what he was giving to her was for us actually to list them (this way you can sing the song at home with your family).  Ok, so here is what he gave her:

Twelve Cauldrons Bubbling,

Eleven Bats A-Swooping,

Ten Goblins Gobbling,

Nine Wizards Whizzing,

Eight Brooms A-Flying,

Seven Spiders Creeping,

Six Owls A-Screeching,

Five Cooked Worms,

Four Giggling Ghosts,

Three Fat Toads,

Two Hissing Cats,

And a Vulture In A Dead Tree.

I guess you are wondering about the thirteenth day, huh? On the Thirteenth day, his lady friend invited her good friend to tea, and gave him a present. She gave him a real, live..... and the author leaves us guessing!

Just as funny as the story is, the pictures are fantastic!  The illustrator takes each present she gives him and draws them into comedic scenes, each day depicting it's own little tale. The final scene, where she is giving him a present is drawn with the ghoul scarily beginning to peek into a present box that neither he nor we can see what's inside and the words "Guess What?" boldly printed on the page with all 12 days of presents in an orderly fashion.  Brilliantly done.

For sure, we would recommend this as a fun, Halloween book to read (or preferably sing) to your children before trick-or-treating.  Even better, if you are having a Halloween party, a definite fun read that will end with all smiles and everyone guessing what the ghoul's present was.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN
FROM
THE LATEINER GANG