Lila and the Jack-o’-Lantern: Halloween Comes to America

Churnin introduces readers to a Halloween tradition’s beginnings in this fictionalized 1850 account of an Irish family emigrating to America. The story opens with red-haired, pale-skinned Lila and her siblings voyaging to the States to escape the Potato Famine. Upon arrival, homesickness sets in, but Ma reassures: “Soon it will be Halloween. I’ll bake colcannon and barmbrack.” Fortuitously, the child encounters a new friend at the market, as well as pumpkins, and a gourd proves to be an ideal replacement for the turnips carved back home to scare off spirit Jack on Halloween. Bray’s flatly realistic drawings center Lila in accessible domestic and metropolitan scenes, and educational prose unfolds slowly to describe the family’s holiday customs, such as finding treasures in Ma’s traditional fare. The result is an informational historical portrait of tradition and transition. An author’s note and recipe conclude. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)