cover image HALLOWEEN HATS

HALLOWEEN HATS

Elizabeth Winthrop, , illus. by Sue Trues- dell. . Holt, $15.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-8050-6386-8

Three grinning trick-or-treaters raid their attic for "floppy hats and sloppy hats/ silly hats and frilly hats," and emerge in improvised outfits. Outdoors, other children sport "Hats with flaps,/ hats with braids,/ hats for generals in parades." The free-for-all concludes with "a switching game": Everyone trades toques to "be someone new." Truesdell (How to Talk to Your Dog) sketches loose-limbed, leaping children in berets, crowns and turbans. Her breezy, clever drawings, reminiscent of Quentin Blake's, make hay with Winthrop's (Shoes) zippy couplets. Ages 3-7. (Sept.)