A Skeleton in the Closet
Perfect Pumpkins
The Contest
Fraidy-Mouse, Scaredy-Mole ( )

Halloween is a scary and exciting holiday. In addition, it's full of adventure and fun. Mole isn't fond of Halloween as he is afraid of it due to the creepy skeletons, witches, and ghosts. With the help of his best friend, Mouse, who isn't afraid of Halloween, she helps him to overcome his fear of Halloween and the scary eerie things associate with Halloween by reading a short Halloween book. With the power of friendship, a person can overcome his/her fear of a foreign unknown thing. No matter what happens, a friend is there for his/her friend and to help a friend in need. As a human, we all have something we fear before, but with a help from a family member or friend, you don't fear what you use to fear anymore because it isn't bad as it seems. This is a good book to read to young children for Halloween in October. Overall, I recommend it. ( )

Mouse and mole are the very best of friends, but they are also opposites. While Mouse likes Halloween; Mole does not. For Mouse, Halloween is full of fun and adventure. There is so much to do like decorating, carving pumpkins, and scaring friends. On the other hand, Halloween is scary and frightening for Mole. Fortunately, there's one activity that's not too scary. Both Mouse and Mole decide to enter the Halloween pumpkin carving contest. Both pick out the perfect pumpkin, but who will win? And how will they get their pumpkins home? After all, the road will be dark and scary. When Mouse realizes that frightening Mole wasn't such a good idea, she comes up with a plan to help her friend by reading a Halloween story.

The Bottom Line: This Early Reader contains four chapters for beginning readers in Grades 1 & 2. This gentle series highlights the theme of friendship. In this book, Mouse helps Mole overcome his fear of Halloween so they can enjoy the holiday together. In fact, my favorite part of the book was when Mouse reads a Halloween story to Mole; it's like there's a book within a book. The gouache and litho pencil illustrations feature soft, earthy tones perfect for Autumn. Enthusiastically recommended for beginning readers everywhere.

This review also appears at the Mini Book Bytes Book Review Blog.