Costumes. Candy. Spooky scene.
Total darkness! Halloween.
 
Firelight? A pointy shadow?
Trick-or-treater peeks on tip-toe…
 
Witches! See them weary-toiling,
steaming cauldron bubble-boiling.
 
What’s inside? A fearsome brew!
Better run, for when they’re through--
POOF! They’ll put a spell on you.
 
Spooky spirits roaming, prowling.
Wild wolf pack hunger-howling.
 
Don’t just stand there stiff with fear.
Scoot-skedaddle out of here!
 
Run now, kid—and do it fast!
Witches’ spell is nearly cast…
 
“Wing of bat and specter’s shiver.
Wart of toad and chicken’s liver.
Kid, become a CANDY GIVER!”
 
Didn’t run? Well, fine and dandy.
Now the witches have your candy.

Halloween night! The time was right for the annual Gruesome Brew-Off.
Each hopeful witch made a horrible brew.
At last it was Eensie-Weensie’s turn.
With shivering fingers and knees knocking, Eensie-Weensie stood on tip-toe.
Plunk! She dunked onions into her cauldron.
Plink! She tipped toadstools into her cauldron.
Plop! She dropped dragon fruit into her cauldron (fresh from her garden).
Now what would happen?
Grumble-bumble. Blub!
Rumble-tumble. Glub!
Vile vapors rose.
A mushroom cloud puffed.
A fabulous fiery dragon flared up!
And Eensie-Weensie cried, “ENOUGH!”
The crowd howled…
and filled their bowls…
with dragon fruit-and-veggie dinner.
“Eensie-Weensie is our winner!”

   I've been looking for this new book from Sophie Blackall, "Hello Lighthouse." When last I checked the online catalog, my library didn't have it yet. But a few days ago, a fly on the wall of my local library might have heard a grown woman (that would be me) utter an audible, triumphant "YES!" when she spotted this book on the shelf.
     I read it with my kids last night, and Yes! Yes! Yes! to "Hello Lighthouse." Gorgeous in every respect, from the rich blue sky and water, to the stylized ocean waves and sturdy hexagonal lighthouse, to the rhythmic poetic words, this book made a deep impression on me. As I read it aloud, I could feel it transporting me and my daughters to another time and place. That's the experience I crave in a picture book!