Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Aspiring bruja Luna agrees to help with Halloween party-planning in exchange for witchcraft lessons in Plaza and Murphy's lengthy but likable narrative. Peck's traditionally styled, textural digital paintings showcase the magnitude of Luna's challenge as she sets about helping the host, witch Pheenie, pull together a memorable bash. The pale-skinned pair begin in a decrepit kitchen, where Luna successfully shifts proposed menu items from baked "troll fingers" to "troll-finger-shaped cookies." Choices about decor, games, and music similarly require Luna to redirect Pheenie's instincts toward kid-friendly options--can-do ingenuity that's rewarded with opportunities to observe spell-casting at work ("Creepy lanterns/ now burn bright./ Keep them burning/ through the night!"). When it's time to party, the duo anxiously await guests for a predictable payoff that underscores the magic of kindness. Ages 3--7. (July)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Actor Plaza and writer/producer Murphy join forces for another bewitching picture book. Halloween is always a dismal time for Pheenie the witch, because her parties are such failures--until the day spunky young Luna Lopez, who yearns to be a helpful bruja like her grandma in Puerto Rico, appears on her porch. The two strike a bargain: Pheenie will instruct Luna in spellcasting in return for Luna's help planning and organizing a properly spook-tacular event. Luna helps Pheenie clean up the house and encourages her to substitute tasty cider for wormy trick-or-treat apples and to put out kid-friendly snacks like candy corn and cookies in place of the witch's typical candied spiders and baked troll fingers. The effervescent narrative is further stoked by several rhymed spells and suitably energetic illustrations. Peck sets the tale in a racially diverse urban neighborhood, and as the witching hour approaches (at around eight p.m., according to the clock on the mantel), in troops a group of eager-looking young partygoers in upscale costumes to play hide-and-seek with real ghosts and dance to a goblin band. It's a Halloween hullaballoo! Elderly Pheenie is pale-skinned; Luna is tan-skinned. A high-spirited night free of frights.(Picture book. 5-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
