Author: Drew Daywalt
Philomel Books/Penguin Random House LLC 2022
Hardcover, 32 Page Picture Book
The Crayons are ready to celebrate Halloween. They’ve got their costumes on but aren’t quite certain what to say when they knock on the door!
The Crayons just can’t seem to grasp what Halloween is all about. They’re all dressed up and ready to go, however with the first knock on a door, things go wrong. Comments like “Give us your candy lady” are not well appreciated. The Peach color crayon using the crayon box for a costume let’s everybody know he’s naked! In the words of the white crayon dressed as a ghost, “OK. That was all kinds of wrong.” The next attempt isn’t much better, they decide it’s a holiday and with the second knock at the door Christmas, birthdays, and yes, Happy American Cheese Month is also mentioned. They get polite, they get too scary, and unfortunately for all, the Peach colored crayon never quite seems to catch on.
The Crayon characters don’t disappoint and are, once again, fairly hilarious. This book has some subtle humor for adults as well as that directed towards the 3-6 year old readers. The size of this book is small, which suits little hands perfectly. The illustrations are simple and funny, and kudos to Oliver Jeffers who can give a crayon personality. Peach crayon, who is once again naked, doesn’t fail to entertain in an appropriate way. The narrative is in a larger, easy to read font for beginning readers. The conversation between the characters, however, is in a written font that’s smaller and not as legible, but allows the characters to speak to one another without lots of quotations or punctuation. This is a short, happy book that will hold the attention of your younger readers and give the adults something to laugh at as well.
The Crayons Trick or Treat by Drew Daywalt gets 5 stars from this reviewer.