THE BONES OF FRED McFEE

This ominous book, thrillingly chillustrated in high-contrast scratchboard, describes an uncanny Halloween decoration. Fred McFee is just a toy skeleton dangling from a tree, but he makes two siblings nervous. "He isn't real, but it's hard to tell—/ He's plastic, head to toe./ But all of his bones are joined so well,/ No one would ever know!" Bunting's (Smoky Night) classic rhythms cultivate an eerie ambiguity; Fred vanishes and a grave appears. Seen from precipitous angles, Cyrus's (Sixteen Cows) realistic images of billowing curtains, glowing jack-o'-lanterns and a watchful owl will give readers goosebumps. Ages 5-8. (Sept.)