Black cats, a mummy, witches, skeletons, zombies, and other creatures join the march toward a haunted casa on Halloween night in Marisa Montes’s mood piece that weaves Spanish words into the rhyming text. The tension mounts in the spooky narrative until . . . “ Las brujas boogie, muertos bop, / Los esqueletos do the hop.” It’s a party! But it turns out that in the midst of all the festive dancing, the worst is yet to come: “RAP! RAP! RAP!” At the door is what every monster fears most: “Of all the horrors they have seen, / The WORST are kids on Halloween!” Yuyi Morales’s richly hued illustrations are both ghoulish and frightfully funny, and wonderfully extend both the eeriness and humor of Montes’s story. A glossary and pronunciation guide for the Spanish words is included. (Ages 4–6)

Follow los monstruos and los esqueletos to the Halloween party

Under October's luna, full and bright, the monsters are throwing a ball in the Haunted Hall. Las brujas come on their broomsticks. Los muertos rise from their coffins to join in the fun. Los esqueletos rattle their bones as they dance through the door. And the scariest creatures of all aren't even there yet!

This lively bilingual Halloween poem introduces young readers to a spooky array of Spanish words that will open their ojos to the chilling delights of the season.

Los Gatos Black on Halloween is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year, the winner of the 2008 Pura Belpre Medal for Illustration and a Pura Belpre Honor Book for Narrative.