Tales Embrace the Fun, Fright of Halloween

Tonight can be both a fun and frightening time for young children, who delight in the candy Halloween brings but can be intimidated by the scary costumes and decorations. Fortunately, a number of children’s authors have homed in on that uncertainty with books that let youngsters know dressing up--and even being a little scared--is all part of what makes Halloween so special.

Take Jesse Bear, for example. For him, Halloween means a trip to the pumpkin farm and an afternoon spent carving jack-o’-lanterns. But then comes the time to pick out a trick-or-treat costume.

In Nancy White Carlstrom’s rhyming “What a Scare, Jesse Bear” (illustrated by Bruce Degen, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 28 pages, $15), the latest addition to an enduring series of books for preschoolers, Jesse Bear tries on a variety of clothes and hats before slipping on a spooky old monster mask--one so spooky it even frightens Jesse Bear when he peeks into a mirror. But Jesse Bear quickly overcomes that initial scare and winds up turning the tables on the adults with the biggest trick in an enjoyable night of tricks-and-treats.

Jesse Bear isn’t the only one who can’t settle on a costume, however. In “Froggy’s Halloween” (by Jonathan London, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz, Viking Children’s Books, 32 pages, $15.99), the seventh installment in the increasingly popular series for young readers, the irrepressible amphibian isn’t sure whether he’d be happier as a heroic Super Frog, a scary Count Von Frogula or a ghost frog.

Finally, he decides on a homemade prince’s outfit complete with a wooden sword--a sword that winds up tearing a hole in his trick-or-treat bag, spilling his hard-earned candy all over the street. But when Froggy gets home, his mother has a tasty surprise waiting for him that saves the night.

“Midnight in the Cemetery” (by Cheryl Harness, illustrated by Robin Brickman, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 28 pages, $16) will put adventurous readers in the mood for Halloween by taking them on a late-night trip through a graveyard with a pair of treasure hunters. And when the two kids poke their shovels into the ground, the whole cemetery comes alive.

Each page contains some hidden objects that readers can search for with the help of a two-page puzzle key at the back of the book. Also worth noting are Brickman’s creative and lifelike illustrations, created by cutting, painting, sculpting and then gluing pieces of watercolor paper together.

Another special Halloween book is Keith Faulkner’s “Boney Bob: The Scared Skeleton” (illustrated by Gary McNamara, Little Simon, 12 pages, $12.95), a gentle tale for children ages 3 and older.

At first, Boney Bob unwittingly scares off the kids he’s trying to befriend, but when the kids return at night in their trick-or-treat costumes, it’s Bob’s turn to be frightened.

The book comes with a 43-inch inflatable glow-in-the-dark version of Boney Bob.