Skelly's Halloween

by David Martin, Lori Richmond (Illustrator)

Overview

A playful skeleton lives for trick-or-treating in this charming, laugh-out-loud picture book perfect for the Halloween season.

Snap my fingers and rattle my bones—it’s Halloween!

Get ready for a spooktacular time with Skelly’s Halloween, a playful read aloud with a Humpty Dumpty-like hook, sure to become a Halloween staple.

Skelly B. Skeleton lives for Halloween: the trick-or-treating, the costumes…the TRICK-OR-TREATING! Then a tumble leaves him in pieces, and Skelly just might miss out on his favorite holiday. Luckily, a variety of animals—a snake, a chicken, a colony of ants—happen along to put Skelly back together again…to hilarious effect. It will take the help of some resourceful children to make things right and save the day.

With exuberant text from David Martin and bold art from Lori Richmond, Skelly’s Halloween is sure to delight trick-or-treaters of all ages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250216984
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	08/07/2018
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	22 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

David Martin has written many books for children, including Let’s Have a Tree Party!, illustrated by John Manders; All for Pie, Pie for All and Little Bunny and the Magic Christmas Tree, both illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev; and We’ve All Got Bellybuttons!, illustrated by Randy Cecil. He lives in Vermont.

Lori Richmond is a corporate creative director turned picture-book maker. She is the author-illustrator of Pax and Blue and the illustrator of A Hop Is Up. In 2018, she has Skelly's Halloween, Bunny's Staycation (Scholastic), and Oopsie-Do (HarperCollins). She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Editorial Reviews

07/02/2018
Even ghouls encounter Halloween wardrobe malfunctions. Soon after an eager skeleton named Skelly decides a ghost is the perfect Halloween costume, his bedsheet gets caught in a momentary updraft and he crashes to the ground in pieces. A snake, an ant colony (all wearing construction hats), and a chicken all take a turn at putting Skelly back together again, but each species has a different idea of what a reassembled skeleton should look like: “Wait a minute. I’m not supposed to have a tail,” he tells the snake. Luckily, a group of human trick-or-treaters finds the sad pile of bones that Skelly has become (“I’m like Humpty Dumpty”), and after overcoming their initial fear (“Bones!” “And they talk? Run!”), they put Skelly to rights, using the diagram on one kid’s skeleton costume as a guide. Generously scaled cartooning and sweet-natured humor make this title ideal for inaugural Halloween adventures. Ages 4–8. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

07/01/2018
PreS-Gr 2—Halloween is always an exciting holiday for children and skeletons, too. Skelly, the narrator, has been asleep all year because skeletons can only come to life on Halloween. This Halloween Skelly is looking for the perfect costume. After running through his past choices that did not work out well, Skelly decides to be a ghost. This seemed to be the perfect costume until a gust of wind flew him up into the air. When Skelly landed, he was broken into many different pieces. Several animals came by and tried to put Skelly back together again, but could never find the right order. It looked like going trick-or-treating was not going to happen for Skelly this year! Luckily, a few children were walking by, and one of the children had on a skeleton costume. Together the children put Skelly back together and they all went trick-or-treating! The illustrations are cute, but not outstanding. VERDICT While not among the great Halloween books out there, this one is a fun addition, especially for children who like lighthearted nonscary holiday fare.—Nicole Detter-Smith, Homestead High School, IN

School Library Journal