Just Say Boo!

As three children dressed as a witch, shark, and bat go trick-or-treating, they defuse potentially scary situations with one word: “If a yip and a yowl/ make you shiver and scowl,/ what do you say?/ Boo!” Thus armed, the kids face “wind [that] whirls and whines,” a jack-o’-lantern’s grin, and skeleton and dinosaur costumes. There’s a comforting warmth underlying Hood’s rhymes, and Henry’s copper and silver palette gives the story a note of timelessness. Ages 3–8. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. Illustrator’s agent: Shannon Associates. (Aug.)