Tucker's Spooky Halloween: Candlewick Storybook Animations Book

"This simple story will appeal to very young children just beginning to celebrate the day." — School Library Journal

When the irrepressible Tucker is determined to look scary this year — not cute! — he puts his own paws to the cause and rolls out just the right costume. A sweet and funny adventure every small child is sure to appreciate.

Children's Literature

You could just fish Leslie McGuirk's classic picture book out of this activity packet and read it to your children. But if you did that, you would miss out on the animated short version with its perfectly spooky score. You would miss out on the skillful narration of master storyteller Rob Cleveland. And you would miss out on the fun of placing a sheet full of stickers on a double-page harvest poster. I admit that I am, usually, quite skeptical of high-tech presentations of picture books. I wonder: Does animation add anything to the story? Does it detract anything from the story? Does it distract readers from the picture book as a highly effective storytelling format? In this case, my answers are yes, no, and maybe. (Which is, all-in-all, a positive review for such a format.) The animated short won my heart when it aptly showed Tucker's "mummy eyes" two scenes sooner than the picture book did. The spooky music added to the story's mood, as did Rob Cleveland's masterful reading. My only qualm about the book—and it is a pretty minor one, all things considered—is that this version may distract from the otherwise quite effective (but simple) picture book format. Beginning readers will appreciate the CD site of the disc, which has a page-by-page version complete with tones to indicate when to turn each page. This lovely package is recommended for use in the home or library setting. Reviewer: Heidi Hauser Green