Frangoline and the Midnight Dream

Frangoline has a double life. By day, she’s “bright and clean,/ She always ate up all her greens,” but at night, she dons a black cape and romps through the forest, scaring animals and even the fretful moon who “gazed down in fear and dread,/ Warning, ‘Little ones should be in bed!’ ” When the little tyrant disturbs graveyard ghouls, she has a change of heart. Elliott’s mixed-media illustrations create a gently wicked nocturnal atmosphere that, along with Pearce’s boundary-testing heroine, set the tone for a mischievous Halloween. Ages 3–5. (Aug.)