I liked this book. It was a book of Halloween type poems. I also really enjoyed the illustrations in this book. they really popped and complimented their corresponding poem.

Fourteen Halloween-themed poems are collected in Hallowilloween by Calef Brown, whose previous picture-book forays include Polka-bats and Octopus Slacks: 14 Stories and Flamingos on the Roof. Here we have selections like Lone Star Witches, about two Texas witches determined to go toe-to-toe with their Boston sistren, The Vumpire, about an unusual umpire who only works night games, and The Poltergeyser, about very strange waterspout.

I was really drawn in by the cover of this one, and by the good things I had heard about Calef Brown's art, but I have to confess I just wasn't that impressed. Perhaps I read this too soon after Adam Rex's brilliant Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, another picture-book collection of monstrous poems suitable for Halloween time, but I found the poems here distinctly uninteresting, and rather clumsily constructed. Calef Brown fans will enjoy his acrylic illustrations, I think, but they're the only ones to whom I would recommend Hallowilloween. Everyone else would do better to find the Rex title, and its sequel. ( )

More Calef Brown goodness..our favorite poem in this collection is Duncan. ( )

How did Calef Brown release a book earlier this year without one of his biggest fanboys knowing? Despite the title, our enjoyment of this quirky gem did not suffer from a lack of a correct holiday tie-in. ( )

This book is filled with fun and colorful paintings that match its theme perfectly. All the poems were about fictional monsters and other creepy characters. These poems were hilarious and fun! There was even one about a vampire umpire! Theme: Halloween ( )