Los Gatos Black on Halloween

Bibliography
Montes, Maria. 2006. Los Gatos Black on Halloween. Illustrated by Yuyi Morales. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC.

Plot Summary
The story describes a scary Halloween night scene where things we dread become real. On halloween night monsters are having a ball in the haunted house. Black cats, witches, skeleton, wolf’s, ghosts, and even the dead rise from their tombs to attend the ball only to be scared by little kids that are trick-or-treating on Halloween.

Critical Analysis
This picture book’s illustrator, Yuyi Morales has rightfully been awarded the 2008 Pura Belpre Illustrator Award. The illustrations depict the spookiness of the dark Halloween night very well. The illustrations look very real and scary. The pictures have been drawn with utmost details like the glowing eyes of the black cats, the wicked eyes carved on the pumpkins, the broken neck of the old lady’s ghost, the pointed branches on the trees that look like hands and fingers etc. Although the illustrations draw the spookiness of Halloween very well, the realism can be frightening to little children.

The rhyming and poetic text makes this a great read aloud book. Children will enjoy the surprise ending where the Halloween characters are actually horrified by the children who come for treats on Halloween. The book is more appropriate for children who are able to understand the humor behind Halloween.