Kids books: Tricks and treats aplenty for Halloween

Celebrate Halloween with some of these great new children's books:

• Duck and Goose look everywhere for a pumpkin until their friend Thistle tells them about the local pumpkin patch in "Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin" (Schwartz & Wade/Random House, $6.99). This board book is the latest in the "Duck and Goose" series by author/illustrator Tad Hills. (Ages birth-2.)

• Each page of "Whooo's That?" (Harcourt, $9.99), written by Kay Winters and illustrated by Jeannie Winston, offers a lift-the-flap pumpkin, making this an especially fun book for very young readers. (Ages 1-3.)

• In his picture-book debut, author Tom Brenner perfectly captures kids' anticipation of the holiday in "And Then Comes Halloween" (Candlewick Press, $16.99). With evocative watercolor and collage illustrations by Caldecott Honor-winning artist Holly Meade, this book is a wonderful way to share the sights, sounds and smells of the season with young readers. (Ages 3-6.)

• Take a traditional tune, fill it with Halloween sprites and spirits and you've got "Over in the Hollow" (Chronicle Books, $15.99). Author Rebecca Dickinson clearly had fun giving the classic children's song "Over in the Meadow" a Halloween makeover, while S. Britt's illustrations burst with wild action and color. (Ages 3-6.)

• Caldecott Medalist Emily Arnold McCully teams with veteran author Eve Bunting to tell a frightful tale that ends happily in "The Banshee" (Clarion, $16). (Ages 4-7.)

• A round yellow moon in a dark night sky is calling a young witch to come and fly. But it's her first time and learning to fly on a broom isn't easy, as author Alison McGhee shows in "Only a Witch Can Fly" (Feiwel & Friends, $16.99). McGhee's story of the value of perseverance is lyrically told in a poetry form called a sestina. The linoleum-block-print illustrations by Taeeun Yoo are spectacular. (Ages 4-7.)

• Author/illustrator Michael Rex has a thing for Margaret Wise Brown's classic books. Last year, he came out with "Goodnight Goon," a parody of "Goodnight Moon." Now he's just released "The Runaway Mummy" (Putnam, $15.99), a hilarious spoof of Brown's "The Runaway Bunny" that older kids will love. (Ages 5-8.)

• Author Sean Taylor tells a delightfully comical story in "When a Monster Is Born" (Roaring Brook, $12.99). Featuring zany illustrations by Nick Sharratt, Taylor's tale carries echoes of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" as the book's ending circles back to the beginning. (Ages 3-6.)

• With a rhyming text and beautiful collage illustrations, author/illustrator Cathryn Falwell shows how pumpkins grow — and eventually become jack-o'-lanterns — in "Mystery Vine" (Greenwillow, $16.99). Falwell's text concludes with recipes and directions for pumpkin-related activities. (Ages 2-4.)

• Kids, are you looking for an interesting career? Try "The Monsterologist" (Sterling, $17.95). In this "memoir in rhyme," author Bobbi Katz demonstrates just what fun it is to track down monsters. Wacky illustrations by Adam McCauley add to the fun. (Ages 7-10.)

• Sol and Connie Blink, two young newcomers to the town of Grand Creek, discover that things aren't as placid as they seem. For one thing, their dog digs up human bones; for another, their parents are acting awfully suspiciously. In "The Witch's Guide To Cooking With Children" (Henry Holt, $15.99), author Keith McGowan deftly reworks the Hansel and Gretel tale, complete with a dash of Roald Dahl's "The Witches," a pinch of Lemony Snickets' "Series of Unfortunate Things" and a hint of Lois Lowry's "The Willoughbys." Young readers will particularly love the way McGowan moves back and forth between a narrative following Sol and Connie and a spine-tingling journal kept by their odd neighbor, Fay Holaderry. Yoko Tanaka's illustrations expand the drama and spookiness of the story. (Ages 9-12.)

• Tamsin Greene is the only one in her family of witches without some kind of Talent. As a result, she feels like an outcast. Yet, when a stranger mistakes Tamsin for her Talented sister and asks her to find a precious object, she can't resist the challenge. In "Once a Witch" (Clarion, $16), author Carolyn MacCullough describes what happens after Tamsin discovers the object and unleashes magical forces that could destroy her family. MacCullough certainly knows how to create a page-turner; the ending suggests that a sequel may be expected. (Ages 13 up.)

• Love scary stories? Got 30 seconds? Then "Half-Minute Horrors"(HarperCollins, $12.99) is the book for you. Edited by Susan Rich, this book includes brief stories by more than 70 writers and illustrators, including Newbery Medalists Avi and Neil Gaiman. (Ages 8-12.)

Karen MacPherson, the children's/teen librarian at the Takoma Park, Md., Library, can be reached at Kam.Macpherson@gmail.com