Los Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes and Yuyi Morales

Winner of the Pura Belpré Award for Best Illustration of the Latino Experience, and an Honor Award in the Pura Belpré Author category.

On one hand, this is a simple picture book, with an equally simple poem illustrated throughout. On the other hand, many of the English nouns are replaced with Spanish words and phrases, and the Tim Burton inspired artwork – rich and dark, would scare some of the youngest readers, methinks. Placed in a “slightly older” range, this fun little ode to Halloween works on several levels. There is the humor, when human trick-or-treaters disrupt the ghouls from their party, and there are the soft-palette pictures which engage but disturb you all at the same time. The glossary, translating Spanish words used in the book, makes this a great choice for one of those kids in an immersion program. As for those of us who love Halloween – it’s delightfully creepy.