Wednesday 23 October 2013

What Do Werewolves Do When It’s Not Halloween?

What Do Werewolves Do When It’s Not Halloween? by Heath McKenzie (Scholastic Press)
PB RRP $14.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-879-3
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Halloween is a wonderful time for all the spooks and ghouls but have you ever wondered what they do for the rest of the year? What do Werewolves do when it’s not Halloween? is a fun exploration of the answer to this question.

   November the first is kinda the worst
   For everything spooky and creepy,

In this story, mummies explore fashion options, zombies visit libraries in the hope of expanding their minds and ghosts try to be nice. But it’s what the werewolves get up to that is most troubling.

The pictures are bright, bold and humorous with the tinge of creepiness which is sometimes present in Heath McKenzie’s illustrations. In this picture book the creep factor fits perfectly with the story, the humour in the text has the same scary edge.

The rhythm, the internal rhymes and the flow of the story make it fun and entice the reader to turn the page to discover what will come next. And the ending is just fabulous.

This probably isn’t a book for the very young, and will not be reassuring for those who are susceptible to nightmares, but it is aimed at prep children or older who will enjoy scaring themselves.

What do Werewolves do when it’s not Halloween? is a fun book to read for Halloween – if you dare!

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