John Pig's Halloween (Picture Puffins) - Softcover

Waldron, Jan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140568360 ISBN 13: 9780140568363

Publisher: Puffin, 2001

Synopsis

Terrified of trick-or-treating, John Pig hides in his house, until a wacky pie-baking witch zooms into his kitchen and attracts a wealth of silly monsters with her culinary creations, causing John to overcome his fear. Reprint.

About this title

Review:

"It was cool and hazy on Halloween night / The silvery moon shed a ghostly white light. / As the fog billowed in and bats flitted about, / Trick-or-treat piggies got dressed to step out." So begins John Pig's Halloween, Jan L. Waldron and illustrator David McPhail's monster-rich holiday alternative to the popular Angel Pig and the Hidden Christmas. John Pig, curled up in the shadows as his buddies don towering chapeaus and tangerine bows, tells his fellow pigs he is too tired to go trick-or-treating. The truth is, he's too scared. As the "gussied-up piggies all bid John adieu," he resigns himself to a long, lonely night of sulky pumpkin carving. A "Kaboom!!!" jolts John from his reverie, however, as an actual broomstick-riding, treat-seeking witch-pig crashes into the house. Disgusted with John Pig's trick-or-treat offerings of red licorice ribbons and rock candy, she hastily enlists the bewildered piglet in a pie-baking, cookie-making frenzy. The resulting aromas lure the witch's ghoulish friends from far and wide for a veritable monster mash of howling, slurping, waltzing, and oozing. Of course, they disappear out the back door as John's friends come in through the front: "John's housemates returned with stuffed bags and cold toes, / With Popsicle noses and lopsided bows. / 'Poor John,' they all sighed. 'He has really missed out. / 'He's skipped Halloween and been lonely, no doubt.'" Ha! This warm, richly illustrated book is perfect for the child who revels in the delicious creepiness of Halloween... but not too much. (Ages 4 and older) --Karin Snelson

From Booklist:

Ages 4^-6. For the many kids who don't want to dress up in a costume on Halloween, here's a book about a little pig who stays home. Spooked by his Halloween fears, John won't join his siblings trick-or-treating. He's home alone when a friendly, rather bossy witch and her cat appear at the window. She enlists John to prepare a feast for her monster friends, who arrive to party through the evening. Surprised to find himself enjoying his guests, John finds that time flies. Finally, he bids them good night, and welcomes his brothers and sisters home for a second celebration. The story is written in rhymed couplets that scan well and keep the momentum of the story going. McPhail's ink-and-watercolor illustrations will grab children's attention from the first page, in which John Pig cowers in the shadow of an armchair, to the last, in which he nestles all snug in his bed--while out the window the witch and her cat fly away. The pictures, which deftly portray the piglets as well as the monsters (who seem a little menacing even at their most cuddly) will please children at every turn of the page. A treat. Carolyn Phelan

About this edition

• Publisher: Puffin
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0140568360
• ISBN 13: 9780140568363
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: McPhail David