cover image Omar's Halloween

Omar's Halloween

Maryann Kovalski, . . Fitzhenry & Whiteside, $16.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-1-55041-559-9

Omar the bear, Kovalski's teddyish series hero, cannot decide upon the ideal Halloween costume. Like the title character of last season's T. Rex Trick or Treats by Lois G. Grambling, illus. by Jack E. Davis, Omar aspires to being "the worst kind of scary." He considers disguising himself as a spider or bat, until his friends praise those creatures' pest-control talents. When the big day arrives, he glumly trick-or-treats as a ghost; to his great luck, a downpour turns his simple white sheet into a terrifying disguise, complete with mud and twigs. Kovalski's unfussy colored-pencil drawings may lack polish, but Omar's story is well and warmly told. Ages 6-8. (Aug.)