EEK! Halloween!
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PreS-K-The chickens know that something odd is going on. A duck wearing gigantic monster feet? Pumpkins with eerie faces? Their anxiety mounts until a friend pops up to reassure them: "Relax, silly chickens! It's Halloween." This bite-size board book is infused with the sense of whimsy that fans of the author's work have grown to appreciate. She pairs readable text in verse with winsome, thick-lined, round-eyed illustrations to create a delightful introduction to this potentially frightening holiday. Readers will love the cast of enticing creatures-a pig wearing a chicken suit, a large elephant in a mouse costume, a pair of grinning felines in wizard and witch hats, and the soft-bellied chickens (an endearingly expressive bunch, looking around uncertainly and grimacing forlornly)-each placed against a simple backdrop. Boynton maintains a slightly eerie mood but keeps everything just gentle enough to appeal to the intended audience. VERDICT A great addition to board book collections, especially where Halloween titles are needed. Kids anticipating their first Halloween will be easily convinced, along with the initially nervous poultry, that the upcoming holiday is full of spooky fun.-Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The farmyard's chickens experience Halloween.A round, full moon shines in the sky, and the chickens of Boynton's barnyard are feeling "nervous." Pumpkins shine "with flickering eyes," witches and wizards wander the pastures, and one chicken has seen "a mouse of enormous size." It's Halloween night, and readers will delight as the chickens huddle together and try to figure out what's going on. All ends well, of course, and in Boynton's trademark silly style. (It's really quite remarkable how her ranks of white, yellow-beaked chickens evoke rows of candy corn.) At this point parents and children know what they're in for when they pick up a book by the prolific author, and she doesn't disappoint here. The chickens are silly, the pigs are cute, and the coloring and illustrations evoke a warmth that little ones wary of Halloween will appreciate. For children leery of the ghouls and goblins lurking in the holiday's iconography, this is a perfect antidote, emphasizing all the fun Halloween has to offer. An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver. (Board book. 1-3) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.