Otter Loves Halloween!

Written and Illustrated by Sam Garton
Balzer + Bray     7/21/2015
978-0-06-236666-5
32 pages    Age 4—8

.               .           .            .“Hi! I am Otter.
“Halloween is the best holiday ever! It is also a very bury time for me and Teddy; we have to pick pumpkins, decorate the house, and make scary costumes. With so much to do, it’s a good thing I’m a Halloween expert!” [back cover]

Review
Saying Otter loves Halloween is an understatement. Otter is crazy about Halloween. She counts down the days, and she recruits all of her friends to help with the preparations. Halloween night, Otter dresses as a witch (which I thought was a wizard), and helps Teddy transform into a mummy. Giraffe, well, he disappoints Otter with his not-so-scary costume. Otter decides to help Giraffe increase his scare factor by adding scary teeth to the long-necked animal’s costume. Otter wants everyone to be oh so scary!

Halloween night arrives. The costumes are scary—on the children. Otter hid under her bed. The Otter Keeper talks to Otter and Pig, who Otter took with her into hiding. He He creatively adjusts Otter and her friends costumes—cardboard box monster masks. Now the children no longer scare Otter . . . or Pig. As Otter opens the door to pass out Halloween treats, she states,

“These trick-or-treaters sounded even scarier than the ones before. But things are much less scary when you can’t really see them,”

Otter Loves Halloween is full of heart and charm. Otter is so excited about Halloween she counts down the months and then the days. All of Otter’s friends are of the stuffed variety and perfectly compliment Otter. The illustrations are terrific with lots of little details to delight this reviewer. I love Otter’s enthusiasm, confidence, and fearless. She wants to be scary and nothing else will do.

Otter reflects the pre-Halloween attitude and candy-fueled excitement of many young children. But for some children, the costumes they see outside or greet them at the door scare them. The Otter Keeper—a young boy with glasses and green boots—has an interesting solution to keep Otter from the night’s scary creatures. Otter, a good friend, makes similar costumes for her friends. In the end, everyone has a terrific Halloween and no one is scared, no matter how scary the costume. Otter Loves Halloween will be loved by young children.

OTTER LOVES HALLOWEEN. Text and illustrations copyright © 2015 by Sam Garton. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Balzer + Bray, New York, NY.

Purchase Otter Loves Halloween at Amazon—Book Depository—IndieBound Books—Balzer + Bray.

Learn more about Otter Loves Halloween HERE.
HarperCollins’ for Teachers and Librarians Blog & Resources is HERE.

Meet the author/illustrator, Sam Garton, at his/her website: http://www.samgarton.co.uk/
Meet Otter at her website:  http://www.iamotter.co.uk/
Find more books at the Balzer + Bray facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/BalzerBray
.            .  Balzer + Bray is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers:  http://www.harpercollins.com/

Also by Sam Garton

I Am Otter

Otter in Outer Space

I Am Otter (Board Book edition; release date: February 16, 2016)
Otter Goes to School (release date: June 14, 2016
Otter: The Best Job Ever! (released June 7, 2016)
Otter: Oh No, Bath Time! (release date: June 7, 2016)

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Copyright © 2015 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews. All Rights Reserved

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Full Disclosure: Otter Loves Halloween by Sam Garton, and received from Balzer + Bray (an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers), is in exchange NOT for a positive review, but for an HONEST review. The opinions expressed are my own and no one else’s. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”