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Title: too scary (and gross)
Review: The illustrations in this book are simply too gross and scary. The pirate has the worst teeth I've ever seen, and most of the characters have sinister or threatening expressions on their faces. The watercolors are beautifully detailed in a technical sense, but the few times I've read this book to my daughter I cringe. I think I'll ask my wife if we can get rid of it. At the end, the "punchline" depicts all these kids dressed in cute costumes, and you realize that all the grossness was in their imaginations. Well, I don't like this for two reasons. First, I don't like the technique of exaggeration followed by "just kidding." Secondly, I don't get why it is good to encourage imagining gross or scary images, especially at the young age the reading level of this book seems to imply.Arden Druce's other Halloween book called Halloween Night is illustrated more conventionally.
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