Black and Bittern Was Night

Starred review from July 22, 2013
Written in alliterative nonsense verse in the vein of Carroll’s “Jabberwocky,” Heidbreder’s Halloween tale tells of “skul-a-mug-mugs” (rattle-boned skeletons) that commandeer Halloween night, chasing “tall-bigs” (adults) inside and pre-empting plans for trick-or-treating. But skul-a-mug-mugs are no match for candy-craving, costumed kids. In Martz’s crisp, none-too-scary digital cartoons with highlights of orange, gold, and dark blue, an all-out “scare-fest” ensues between the rival gangs: “Strong-sure tyke-tots/ out-movvered skul thunder./ Nip-swift child-tide/ skit-skuttled their foes:/ The skul-a-mugs jellied/ from top-tip to toes.” Author and illustrator match wits in this cheeky and sophisticated readaloud that imagines the ultimate in Halloween skullduggery. Ages 4–8.

August 1, 2013
Halloween night brings an epic battle between hordes of "SKUL-A-MUG-MUGS" (skeletons) and the "tyke-tots" (children) who want to go out trick-or-treating. Heidbreder crafts his tale in rhyming nonsensical text, while Martz illustrates in a cartoon style with a strict palette of black, grays, white, yellow, orange and reds. Set against the dark night, the menacing skeletons boast how they will "brain-frizz tall-bigs. / Halloween they'll deep nix. / They'll shup-clup inside / nasty Noras and Nicks!" But the costumed kids rally--they are not "splooked-out" like their parents. On a vibrantly red double-page spread, the two forces splendidly clash on a neighborhood street: "The scare-fest crish-crashed, / up-over-round under... // ...but strong-sure tyke-tots / out movvered SKUL thunder." Soon the skeletons disappear, adults shake off their fears, and the children resume their Halloween quest for candy. All ends well on a high fueled by the exciting victory and the profusion of "sweet-treats." Some readers will enjoy puzzling out the meanings of the many made-up words or simply relish how the language sounds when read aloud. But others may not be up to the task of so much decoding, even if the impeccably detailed pictures help provide much-needed clues to the action. This Dylan Thomas-Dr. Seuss-Lewis Carroll love child has the power to enrapture, with lots of practice. (Picture book. 5-8)

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September 1, 2013

K-Gr 2-In this celebration in nonsensical verse, SKUL-A-MUG-MUGS have gathered on a Halloween night of "skellety fright" to shut down the trick-or-treating fun of all young "Noras and Nicks." The rattling skeletons (including a dog), march down streets of a small town with the intention of challenging the "tall-bigs" (parents) with their own "scree-scrackle scroans and fog-footed wheeze" to intimidate and shut down the children's fun. In response, the youngsters take back the night with bravery absent in their elders-"the quikstant they tot-took/and crish-crilled to beds, /fling-up again springsprung/ghost-civvered tyke heads." This verse is a delight to readers, an aural and visual exercise for fluency and comprehension with a catchy rhythm occasionally reminiscent of "The Night Before Christmas." Paired with a cast of geometrically inspired cartoon images, the text introduces an army of costumed tykes out to terrify the skeletons, from a caped superhero and antennaed bumblebee to a princess and a mummy-all joining to out-"splook" their opponents and end in a triumphant, "yak-yawling" sweet-treat gathering.-Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2013
Grades K-2 Just when you thought you'd seen every permutation of a Halloween story possible, here's something very different. This wildly nonsensical rhyming story tells of how one black and bittern Halloween night, a group of children gather together to save their trick-or-treating after the town is overrun with SKUL-A-MUG-MUGSa threatening hoard of angry-looking skeletons. The SKULS prove no match for the fierce little tyke-tots and very quickly retreat: A-bittern, defeated, / they skul-scled in scare, / leaving Halloween trick-treats / to tot-child do-dare. While this story has been told many times about many holidays (think Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas), Heidbreder's outrageously bizarre language makes this unique. Both reader and listener will be, at turns, mystified, perplexed, and stumped, but with the help of the appealing (and, thankfully, more traditional!) cartoonish illustrations, they should be captivated enough to make it to the satisfying end. Don't be one of the splooked-out tall-bigstry it out.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2014
"Black and bittern was night, / that Halloween night, / when skul-a-mug-mugs / spled out skellety fright." In nonsense verse that's part Dr. Seuss, part Lewis Carroll, Heidbreder describes how a mob of invading skeletons are vanquished by the town's child trick-or-treaters. Cartoony illustrations capture the night's events capably, but it's difficult to find the sense in the text's nonsense.

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