Los Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes

Montes, M.  (2006).  Los Gatos Black on Halloween.  Henry Holt and Company.  Unpaged, $16.95

What really happens on Halloween?  Who are the scary creatures who come out on Halloween?  Ghosts and goblins, or children?

This book takes readers on a Halloween adventure telling about black cats, witches, skeletons, ghosts and goblins, and tombs, adding in Spanish words.  The story is told as a poem and includes end rhyme to describe these Halloween objects.  The scariest part of Halloween is not black cats, witches, ghosts, or goblins, but the children.  This book would make readers wonder about what happens on Halloween.  Do ghosts and goblins really come out to play?  Is there a goblin dance party?  Readers might never really know, but the book lets their minds have a taste of the possibility of these things happening on Halloween. 

This was a fun book to read and would appeal to children ages five through eight.  It has an educational aspect to it as it includes Spanish words as well as a glossary for the Spanish terms.  The illustrations are vibrant, colorful, and fun with their great use of color.  It reminded me about when I used to go trick-or-treating with my cousins and how I would (secretly) be scared of the frightening costumes.  I think it's interesting to imagine what ghosts and goblins think of people when they go out trick or treating and dressing up in various types of costumes.  It makes me think that they might be perceiving us in the same way we look at and perceive them:  scary.  This title refers to black cats on Halloween and what they and other scary, Halloween things might be capable of on Halloween and what really happens with these when people aren't paying attention to them.

This book won the Pura Belpre Award for illustrations and honor for this same award for the text in 2008.  You can learn more about the author and her other books by visiting http://www.marisamontes.com/.  Other books by the author include Juan Bobo Goes to Work and Egg-Napped!  Learn about the illustrator, Yuyi Morales, at http://www.yuyimorales.com/.  Other books that she's illustrated include My Abuelita and Floating on Mama's Song.

Yuyi Morales, illustrator

Marisa Montes, author