Trick Arrr Treat: A Pirate Halloween

Multiethnic trick-or-treaters dressed as pirates conquer the streets of their suburban neighborhood, led by chief pirate Charlotte Blue-Tongue, who wields a blue lollipop and a glowing jack-o’-lantern. “Pirates sticking out their tongues,/ shrieking with their pirate lungs,” reads Kimmelman’s playfully assured verse, which is punctuated with pirate exclamations (“Fill my belly!” “Rot my teeth!”). The pirates’ nighttime roving eventually takes them aboard a pirate ship, but a “Big black monster, sly and cunning,/ gets the frightened pirates running” (the monster turns out to be a friendly dog). Back at the pirate chief’s house, “scurvy scoundrels have a party,/ playing games and laughing hearty,” with fellow neighbors dressed as aliens, ninjas, and more. Lit with sunset shades of pink and purple, Monlongo’s illustrations conjure a cinematic sense of theatricality while capturing the visceral excitement of fully escaping into character on Halloween. Ages 4–7. (Sept.)