The Halloween Tree

Tina Roark

Average Rating 9/10 (1 Review)

Travis kept watching the clock on the wall of his classroom. He couldn’t wait until school was over, and the bell would ring. He wanted to hurry home and finish the Halloween costume he had been working on.

Tonight was Halloween night, and Travis and his friends were going trick-or-treating.
The bell rang, and Travis made a bolt for the door. His friends, Hannah and Davey, were waiting for him.

“I can’t wait for tonight,” said Davey.
“Neither can I,” said Hannah. “I’m going as a dinasaur. My mom has worked on my costume for over a week. It has shiny green sequins all over it and a very long tail. I think it’s the best costume I’ve ever had!” she said proudly.
“I’m going as a knight in armor,” said Davey. I’m wrapping myself in tin foil and using a garbage can lid for my shield. I thought of that idea all by myself.”
Hannah and Travis looked at each other and cracked up laughing at the thought of Davey all wrapped up in foil.
“What are you going to be, Travis,” asked Hannah.
“It’s a secret,” said Travis.
“That’s not fair! We told you what we were going to be.”
Travis smiled at them and said, “You guys will find out tonight.”

Travis and his friends walked toward home, and on the way, they saw Mr. Doughman in his yard raking leaves.

“Hi, Mr. Doughman!” the kids chimed.
“Hi, kids! Are you going trick-or-treating tonight?”
“We sure are,” said Travis. “I’m taking Hannah and Davey to the Halloween tree.”
“Now, Travis, you don’t really believe that old story about that tree,” said Mr. Doughman.
“What story? What tree?” demanded Davey.

Review by Molly Martin (110404) Rating (9/10)

Review by Molly Martin
Rating 9/10
It is Halloween and Travis, Davy and Hannah are going to go Trick or Treating. Davy will be a knight in shiny armour. Hannah is a dragon covered with shiny green sequins. Travis only smiles, looks mysterious and won’t tell what his costume will be.

Hannah and Davy who have not lived long in town have never heard the tale of the Halloween Tree.
Walking toward home the kids see Travis’ Neighbour Mr. Doughman raking leaves out in his yard. Mr. Doughman tells the kids the tale of an old woman who lived near the old tree and how the town came under her wrath when they decided to cut the tree down. When the kids meet at the tree total excitement and excitement breaks loose and Mr. Doughman has lots of candy for them.

Writer Roark has taken a fun premise, embellished it, tossed in a little suspense and a bit of deception then added Illustrator Wilson’s delightful artwork to produce a most acceptable work.

Intrigue, fear, excitement, a good joke, two of them even, along with a wise, sensible adult who knows kids pretty well are all presented with grace and style on the pages of The Halloween Tree.

The Halloween Tree is an enchanting work of 24 pages sure to delight the heart and tickle the funny bone of kids in the 7-12 year range.

Vocabulary is within the range of most of these kids with some help needed for the younger ones. The tale is filled with just enough scary to entrance this age group. The Halloween Tree will have great appeal to the younger, ‘read to me’ set as well as Mom or Dad cuddle their little one for an evening read during the days prior to the holiday.

The Halloween Tree is a book I would happily use in my own classroom for group ‘reading time’ as well as having the book available for ‘free reading’ for one or two students to enjoy at the computer as the rest of the class was involved in other activities.

I especially liked the pictures themselves as presented on the pages of The Halloween Tree they did not ‘hang up’ the pages as I was reading. Often large pictures will cause the pages to move slowly, irritating to me, and irritating to young, less patient readers as well.

Enjoyed the Read Happy to Recommend.
Molly Martin (11th April 2004)