Caroline Stutson

A series of creatures, from a black cat to a witch, a ghoul to a ghost, each attempt to tickle or prick the tapping toe hanging down from a dock in this entertaining Halloween picture-book. As one after the other is foiled by the next creature, they eventually attract the attention of the toe-owner - a fiddle-playing girl - who informs them that the toe is HER's, thank you very much...

Originally published in 1993, and then reprinted in this 2009 edition, By the Light of the Halloween Moon uses a cumulative narrative - "A ghost! / A williwaw ghost / who trips the ghoul / Who swats at the bat / Who bumps the witch as she snatches the cat / When he springs through the air to catch the toe / that taps a tune in the dead of night" - that put me in mind of classic nursery rhymes like "This Is the House That Jack Built." The text here reads well, and the artwork is appropriately spooky, while also being humorous. Recommended to anyone looking for entertaining nursery-rhyme style picture-books for Halloween.… (altro)