According to Seinfeld (and most kids would agree), the trick-or-treating mindset involves two words: "Get candy." In this sugar-fueled nostalgia trip, a familiar-looking boy with beady eyes and a savvy smirk targets name-brand chocolate bars. "I'll wear anything I have to wear... to get the candy from those fools
who are so stupidly giving it away," he pants. Seinfeld's junior doppelganger shops for a Superman costume with an uncomfortable plastic mask ("Remember the rubber band on the back of those masks? That was a quality item. Thinnest gray rubber in the world"), and his impatient friends occasion some observational humor that adults will enjoy as much as their progeny (" 'You guys, wait up!' Kids don't want other kids to wait, they want them to wait up"). Bennett, who has drawn for MAD
magazine, gets Seinfeld's skeptical frown and white sneakers just right, and his visual gags complement the comic's incredulous voice. When Mrs. Seinfeld makes her boy wear a winter coat over his Superman outfit, the book presents a mock-heroic portrait of the Man of Steel, muscular arm punching the night sky and brown corduroy over his cape. After the coat fiasco, young Seinfeld dresses as a nitpicky accountant, with a green visor and a filing cabinet for "chewy things," "sour things" and "rejects." This smart-alecky monologue disrespects grown-ups, apples and marshmallow peanuts—just the thing for jaded candy-chasers. All ages. (Sept.)
