Happy Owl-oween!: A Halloween Story

by Laura Gehl, Lydia Nichols (Illustrator)

Overview

Celebrate Halloween with the Owl family in Happy Owl-oween!, a joyful, rhyming picture book.

Follow along with the Owl family on Halloween as they plan their costumes, go trick-or-treating, and more! Laura Gehl’s lively rhyming text and Lydia Nichols’s vibrant illustrations make for a spirited read.

“Families will have a hoot of a time reading this gentle introduction to the holiday.” —School Library Journal

Also available:
Happy Llamakkah!: A Hanukkah Story

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419743122
Publisher:	Abrams Appleseed
Publication date:	07/12/2022
Pages:	24
Sales rank:	1,054,192
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Laura Gehl is the author of 20 books for young readers, including One Big Pair of Underwear (Charlotte Zolotow Highly Commended Title, International Literacy Association Honor Book, Booklist Books for Youth Editors’ Choice); the Peep and Egg series (Parents’ Choice Recommendation, Children’s Choice Book Award Finalist); My Pillow Keeps Moving (Junior Library Guild selection, New York Public Library Best Books of 2018 selection); and I Got a Chicken for My Birthday (Kirkus Best Picture Books of 2018 selection). Her recent picture book, Except When They Don’t, received a starred review from School Library Journal, and the fourth title in her Baby Scientist board book series, Baby Paleontologist, received a starred review from Kirkus. Gehl lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with her husband and four children.

Editorial Reviews

"Families will have a hoot of a time reading this gentle introduction to the holiday."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

08/26/2022

Toddler-PreS—In this holiday-themed offering from Gehl and Nichols, anthropomorphized owlets enjoy all that the season has to offer. Simple three-word phrases lead to lyrical rhymes that highlight each activity and tell a story of Autumn. Whether it's of leaf-jumping, picking a pumpkin, or putting on a costume, each scene depicts the joy and enthusiasm of the owlets. Page turns are well-timed, and little listeners can interactively shout out the recurring refrain, "Happy Owl-oween!" Nichols uses a sophisticated, limited palette of fall colors, with mustard yellow, orange, green, and purple acting as backdrops for round-shaped, friendly characters to complement the bouncy narrative. Pumpkin endpapers with webs and candy hint at the contents and echo the motif of Halloween, but also set the light tone of this non-scary book. Digitally created illustrations include whimsical touches, such as a bat calendar and a needlepoint sampler font for the final chorus of "Happy Owl-oween!" Back matter explains some of the history of the holiday, the origin of the caramel apple, and the tradition of wearing costumes and collecting treats. VERDICT Families will have a hoot of a time reading this gentle introduction to the holiday. A good purchase for any Halloween collection.—Eva Thaler-Sroussi

School Library Journal