WE’RE OFF TO FIND THE WITCH’S HOUSE

In newcomer Krieb’s story, four youngsters march off into Halloween night to find the witch’s house. In a jaunty rhyme, they encounter ever-more-creepy characters as they head for their destination, all buffered by Alley’s scarily playful artwork. First a skeleton pops out (is that a ponytail peeking out from the back of its skull?), then Frankenstein’s monster—“We’re bolting by big Frankenstein, / the herky-jerky, lurching kind— / his heavy head held on with twine. / Watch out! Don’t get too close!”—a ghost, a wolf, Dracula, so that by the time they get to the witch’s house, it seems a sanctuary. And so it is, when all the demons turn out to be their friends in costume. A fine combination of theatrical illustrations with merry wordplay: “We’re running by a mummy now. / I hope we’ll make it by some how. / I think I want my mommy now. . . .” (Picture book. 3-6)