Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Angelina’s Halloween
Illustrator: Helen Craig
Picture Book Series
For ages 5 to 7
Pleasant Company, 2000 ISBN: 978-1584851523
Angelina and her best friend Alice have decided that they want dress up as dancing fireflies for Halloween. Angelina’s mother makes them two beautiful costumes complete with gauzy wings and colourful tiaras. Of course Angelina’s little sister Polly also wants to be a firefly for, as is often the case with little sisters, Polly wants to copy her big sister and be just like her. In the end Angelina helps Polly create a "spooky Halloween ghost" costume and the little mouse is happy.
Halloween evening turns out to be just as much fun as Angelina hoped it would. Angelina and her friends have a wonderful Halloween feast and then they go out trick or treating. It is only after Angelina and Alice and their "little ghost" win a special prize for their Halloween dancing that Angelina discovers that Polly, her adoring little sister, is missing. Where can the little mouse be?
It is all too easy to get annoyed with little sisters and brothers and to lose track of them when one is having fun. Angelina discovers this for herself and it is only when she thinks that she has lost Polly that she remembers how important her little sister is to her. Full of Halloween cheer and the excitement that Halloween brings to the young, this book both tells a thoughtful story and also provides a colourful and charming picture of a Halloween celebration, complete with costumes, parties, spooky houses, and lots of sweets. Helen Craig’s signature artwork with its extraordinary attention to detail and colour are a delight in themselves.
