Eenie meenie Halloweenie

With Halloween approaching, a good-natured child gives her imagination full reign as she ponders possible self-fashioned costumes. For inspiration, she looks no further than her bedroom, chock-a-block with stuffed animals that jump-start her creativity. In springy rhymed verse, Eaddy captures her heroine's inventive vision as she explores costume options while her inanimate menagerie patiently looks on. She gives multiple options a whirl, sourcing domestic props: "Or what about an elephant?/ I could be one of those.// With pillowcases for my ears,/ a sock could be my nose." Rendered digitally, pictures by Fleming give the wide-eyed, ginger-haired protagonist ample personality and energy, and imbue her toy animals with a winsome homespun quality. In the droll finale of this celebration of ingenuity and independent play, the child masterminds a Halloween persona that fits her perfectly--and lets all of her animals take part in the fun. Ages 4--8. (July)

Deciding what to wear for Halloween can be tough. "Eenie meenie Halloweenie"--so many choices. That's what the kid in this bouncy rhyming charmer faces. There are so many things to dress up as, and the costumes can be made with just a little ingenuity and a few props. Luckily for this narrator, the bedroom has a laden dress-up trunk and abundant craft supplies, and it overflows with toys and clothes that inspire costume ideas. Not so incidentally, these rhymed musings about what to be on Halloween will give readers/listeners dress-up ideas that they may never have considered--and present simple, inexpensive homemade ways to achieve those ends with items easily found around the house. (Don't be surprised if kids pick up on and intone the book's title repeatedly while doing so.) The child's ultimate decision about what to be on Halloween is truly genius, born of taking a broad survey of the numerous stuffed animals all around--and providing a great excuse for taking them along for trick-or-treating. The final page turn reveals all, and readers/listeners will delight in it and note that, ironically, the choice involves no costume at all! The book's rollicking verses zip along with lively good cheer, abetted by delightful, energetic, colorful illustrations in which the White, wide-eyed protagonist is shown demonstrating how some of the costumes may be fashioned. A sweet Halloween treat. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.