cover image Eenie Meenie Halloweenie

Eenie Meenie Halloweenie

Susan Eaddy, illus. by Lucy Fleming. HarperCollins, $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-269167-5

With Halloween approaching, a good-natured child gives her imagination full reign as she ponders possible self-fashioned costumes. For inspiration, she looks no further than her bedroom, chock-a-block with stuffed animals that jump-start her creativity. In springy rhymed verse, Eaddy captures her heroine’s inventive vision as she explores costume options while her inanimate menagerie patiently looks on. She gives multiple options a whirl, sourcing domestic props: “Or what about an elephant?/ I could be one of those.// With pillowcases for my ears,/ a sock could be my nose.” Rendered digitally, pictures by Fleming give the wide-eyed, ginger-haired protagonist ample personality and energy, and imbue her toy animals with a winsome homespun quality. In the droll finale of this celebration of ingenuity and independent play, the child masterminds a Halloween persona that fits her perfectly—and lets all of her animals take part in the fun. Ages 4–8. (July)