Alpha Oops! H is for Halloween by Althea Kontis

Alpha Oops!  H is for Halloween by Althea Kontis, illustrated by Bob Kolar

Rating: 3.5 stars

So we're finally getting into the Halloween groove, and it's really only because Lorelei is in preschool and all her friends are into it.  Last year I was impressed we even got a costume, and we even went trick-or-treating in the local way (which involved a little strip-mall-like place because the houses around here require a hike and a half to get through one neighborhood).  This year Lorelei's spook-o-meter is a little higher, so she's not at all frightened by pictures like those in this book, of monsters and goblins, werewolves and vampires.

The book is a follow up to Alpha Oops!  The Day Z Went First, which we checked out at the same time.  Like that book, it's a classic "A is for..." book with a twist: the letters are all jumbled up in fairly random order.  The only plot is they all have to find a Halloween-themed item that starts with their letter.  One in particular, B, shows up again and again, and is uncertain of his choice, but then ends up as the last letter as B for BOO!  And he scares all the letters off stage.  It's a cute ending.

It's a little confusing, and definitely better for kids who are completely comfortable with their ABCs in order, and therefore see the humor in getting them all mixed up.  It's only sorta fun to read out loud, because the only text apart from the "A is for..." lines is the dialogue between the letters.  And Lorelei and Ben don't find that too easy to follow.  Still, it's Halloween-y and it's Halloween week, so we've been reading it every day!