Irish Hallowe'en

Sarah Kirwan Blazek. Pelican Publishing Company, $15.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-1-56554-413-0

Blazek and Rice (An Irish Night Before Christmas) describe what ensues one ""Snap Apple Night,"" when three goblins force a Wise Woman to cure their sick companion. Blazek's rhyming story includes potentially evocative vocabulary (a Bean Sidhe, or banshee, appears), but fails to explain the origins of any Irish customs whatsoever. Likewise, Rice's unpolished, grainy pencil-and-pastel sketches don't do justice to the promising material. Ages 5-8. (Oct.)

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