Front cover of an edition of scary, Scary Halloween.
Scary, Scary Halloween (ISBN 089919799X) is a thirty-two page children's picture book in verse. It was written by Eve Benting and illustrated by Jan Brett. It was first published in the United States in 1986.
The central characters in the story are a mother cat and her three kittens. The mother cat is the story's main narrator. She genuinely believes that Halloween is a dangerous night when all manner of monsters and supernatural beings are loose. She warns her kittens not to go out on that night. The cats believe that they see a lot of scary creatures walk past their home. They do not realize that they are only children wearing costumes.
Like the cats in the story, young children may not realize that the ghosts and monsters in the story are only costumed trick-or-treaters the first time that the story is read to them. Parents may like to point out details in the illustrations that show the scary creatures are just boys and girls in disguise.
Plot[]
As dusk falls, a cat suddenly begins to feel afraid. She realizes that it is Halloween night. She warns her three kittens, who live with her next to the front door steps under an old house, not to go out. The cat family watches as a skeleton, a ghost, a vampire, a werewolf. two witches, several goblins and gremlins and the Devil go past their home. The mother cat tells her kittens to close their eyes and cover their ears for protection.
The kittens are startled by a loud noise. The mother cat explains that a "creature in a winding sheet" is walking up the steps of the house. When one of the kittens asks if the creature will come to get them, the mother cat replies that she does not know. The "creature in a winding sheet", however, pays no attention to the cats.This is because the "creature" is only a boy in a mummy costume who has come to the house to trick-or-treat. All of the other frightening beings that the cats saw were nothing but costumed children too.
After the boy in the mummy costume has gone, the mother cat declares that it is safe to come out. She and her kittens spend the rest of the night hunting.
See also[]
- Big Pumpkin
- Los Gatos Black on Halloween
- Georgie
- Gus Was a Friendly Ghost
- The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything
- The Night Before Halloween
- Room on the Broom
- Winnie and Wilbur picture book series
External links[]
- There is an article about Scary, Scary Halloween on the Halloween Wiki.