Trick or Treat

It's that spooky time of year again and we have a real treat of a book to share with you! I ordered a few books for BookBairn in the lead-up to Halloween, having forgotten quite how many I had stashed in the box of Halloween decorations, and one of them has really really shone brightly!

'Trick or Treat!" by Hayley Down and illustrated by Sarah Vince is an exceptional book that is a true adventure for little ones. This super book tells a story about Meg and her little brother Michael who go out on a trick-or-treating adventure for Halloween. As they make their way down the street, Michael has the heebie-jeebies as each door opens and he encounters a spooky creature. But, Meg uses her torch to show Michael that things aren't as they seem - until the final house, that is!


Wonder what makes it so magical? You get your own little torch to join in. Still wondering why that's so special? You shine the blue light on the white spaces in the illustrations to reveal hidden pictures! And it works even better in the dark! (I tried to photograph it but it's quite tricky to really capture the magic so trust me it's even better in real life.)


BookBairn absolutely adores this book! Adores it! We read it several times a day and have more or less lived in the dark so we can enjoy it. She loves uncovering the normal people under the costumes. But the final house - that's her favourite! The skeletons inside are terrified of Meg and Michael when they open the door but Michael thinks quickly and shines the torch on himself and shows that both him and Meg are skeletons too! At this point BookBairn turns the torch on herself and me and says "we are bones too!" and then she checks her cuddly toy lion, Louis, "he's too squishy - no bones". I love reading it with her just for that moment where she makes connections between the story and her life. That's a powerful book!

The storyline is sweet and great preparation for a night out guising (Scots for trick-or-treating), the illustrations are adorable and so appealing in their black-and-white outlines, but it's that little torch that creates real magic! It's a brilliant read.