Growing up, my mom had a bunch of books that were hold-overs from her own childhood. Among them were three books dedicated to my favorite holiday: Halloween. One of them, appropriately named Halloween, was probably my favorite. A small orange hardcover with stained beige pages and an old library sticker, Halloween was the story of a boy who sees some scary things while out in Halloween night.
At 20 pages long with big font and sparse wording, this rhyming book walks us through what a scared little boy might see on his way home — spiders, black cats, pumpkins — all things scary enough for him to accidentally “split his britches.” And though it’s generally monotone in color (mostly blues and yellows), it does have a nostalgic feel for a time and place I wasn’t even alive for or in. A cloudy sky parts across a full moon with a witch flying in the foreground. A jack o’lantern emerges from the dark. A wooden fence — the one the boy splits his britches on — is the only thing between him and the safety of his home. A child’s fear of the dark can be simple but scary.
The most unexpected thing about Halloween is that the boy in the story is Black. No where is race mentioned, but he clearly is a little Black boy, something that is majorly surprising for my white mom to have in a Halloween book from the 70s. Little finds like this are rare but highly appreciated.
I’m glad my mom kept these books because I can share them with my husband and son. A short book about a spooky night out is sure to put just enough oomph into our bedtime routine, just enough eerie delight without causing real nightmares. An easy read, this book is highly likely to be one that is read every night and be one of the first that my son reads to me! Halloween is great because it can be as scary or harmless as you like. Ron Reese’s Halloween is a simple masterpiece.
Check out Halloween and other holiday books by Ron Reese here!
