Trick or Treat on Monster Street

When a jittery, jumpy kid is separated from his older brothers on Halloween night and finds himself alone on Monster Street, he fears the worst!The boy's dread of things that go bump in the night fills his head with monstrous thoughts. Lightning flashes. Bats flap overhead. Doors squeak open. Hairy arms and tentacles drop spiders into his sack. The boy is relieved when he finally meets up with another trick-or-treater. That is, until his new friend removes his mask...Illustrator Matt Faulkner's ghoulishly entertaining illustrations capture the playful mood of Danny Schnitzlein's clever verse. Children will love the surprising twists and turns of the plot, especially how the young hero conquers his fears...with a little help from his new fiendish friends.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2—A boy who is terrified of monsters has the situation exacerbated by his older siblings: "My brothers knew my weakness well./Every time they got the chance,/They'd think of ways to make me scream,/and laugh when I would wet my pants." When the three go trick-or-treating, the older kids leave the boy behind in the woods when he stops to tie his shoe. He finds himself on Monster Street, meets some monster children, and joins them at a monster party, where the scary costumes are human masks. He wins first prize and the friendship of the monsters, who return with him to terrorize his brothers: "They snatched away my goody bag and plunged their hands inside/But when they saw what I'd brought back/they screamed and wet their pants and cried." The message here would not seem to be about conquering fears, as touted on the book jacket, but rather if you are being bullied, get some bigger bullies to take revenge for you. The rhyme flows well for the most part, but at other times is awkward and leaden. Faulkner's watercolors feature a gruesome cast of cartoonish ghouls and are entertaining, but even collections in need of more Halloween fare can consider this title an additional choice.—Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Danny Schnitzlein is an award-winning children's author whose books have been adapted into plays, and even a ballet! He studied creative writing at Eckerd College and holds a BS degree from the University of Florida. He lives in Georgia with his family and a snuggly dog.Matt Faulkner graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design and has illustrated more than forty books. Matt has taught illustration and character design courses at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. He and his wife, author and children's librarian Kristen Remenar, live with their family in the lower right-hand corner of Michigan.

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