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Trick-or-Treat Countdown
JUVENILE FICTION / Holidays & Celebrations / Halloween
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
1 person is currently reading
26 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 13, 2011
Trick or Treat Countdown counts from one to twelve and then from twelve back down to one. The colors are bright and vibrant, and the refrain "All make-believe on Halloween" reinforces that despite having bats, monsters, and witches, this is a non-scary Halloween book.
October 21, 2014
Trick or Treat Countdown is a great Halloween tale that not only displays Halloween in a colorful rhyming tale but also helps young children learn to count to 12.
This book promotes phonological awareness and vocabulary.
This book promotes phonological awareness and vocabulary.
April 23, 2009
K really loved this book; the Ooos and the Boos were his favorite.
October 26, 2009
A fun way to count and get ready for Halloween!
October 26, 2022
This was a fun, rhyming, Halloween counting book that goes up to twelve. Then using shorter text, it counts back down. Haunted houses, tombstones, witches, skeletons, ghosts, goblins and bats are some of the items that are counted. It was short, but fun. A useful addition to our Halloween collection.
October 19, 2020
A good book for kids with onomatopoeia and counting, both up and down. The illustrations could be more interesting, but most kids will enjoy it and will be able to memorize it after a few readings. you know, so they can "read" it themselves.
April 10, 2019
A rhyming Halloween counting book. Adorable artwork. Emphasizes that all those scary creatures counted 1-12 and back down again are make-believe.
October 24, 2019
An entertaining book that teaches little ones that Halloween is nothing to be afraid of, just 'make-believe', while using rhyming words and counting to 12.
May 12, 2021
Great story for teaching your kid how to count. I thought it had a similar feel to "On the Twelve Days of Christmas." Very cute. Full page illustrations with bright colors.
September 19, 2015
Plot summary and personal response:
'Trick or Treat Countdown' advances from number one to number twelve with the help of a variety of "creepy" Halloween-related objects and characters, including: a haunted house, two tombstones, three witches, four dead leaves, five jack o'lanterns, six skeletons, seven ghosts, eight goblins, nine monsters, ten werewolves, eleven bats, and twelve creeping cats. As the book progresses, the "counted characters" are revealed to be children-in-costume, trick-or-treating in "a shivery, shivery, shivery scene, all make-believe on Halloween".
The story offers several important learning points, including counting, rhyming, and Halloween concepts.
Literary Merit:
This book would be a valuable addition to any pre-K through first-grade classroom. The author utilizes whimsy, humor, rhyme, repetition, and Halloween-themed characters to assist the reader in mastering simple counting concepts.
Genre Considerations:
'Trick or Treat Countdown' is a counting concept book. Counting is very well addressed throughout the story, incorporating the number in a variety of forms. Each number is reflected through a pictorial (character) illustration, is written numerically, and also, spelled out as an oversized word. Each two-page spread includes a rhyming set. All numbers and rhyming sets are revisited and reviewed with a count-down of the numbers and characters to close the story. The full-bleed illustrations were created with vivid gouache paint. Though the illustrations depict Halloween figures, the illustrator kept his three to seven-year-old audience in mind (the pictures should not be frightening, even to very young children). One criticism of the illustration is that on page three, the witches are described as "three green witches" however, the illustration depicts two green witches and one purple witch. This oversight might distract some readers.
Reader Response and Classroom Connections:
This book could nicely be paired with music, creating a "rhyming and counting Halloween song". The content beautifully lends itself to a multi-discipline lesson, including math (counting) and language arts (rhyming) concepts and a Halloween-themed unit and the book could easily be paired with fiction or non-fiction books related to those subject areas. Accompanying projects could include: a dramatic skit in which students could be assigned to portray different characters from the book, crafting to create students' favorite book character, and a felt-board matching game (pairing the number [written numerically] to the number, written as a word or to the appropriate quantity of felt characters).
'Trick or Treat Countdown' advances from number one to number twelve with the help of a variety of "creepy" Halloween-related objects and characters, including: a haunted house, two tombstones, three witches, four dead leaves, five jack o'lanterns, six skeletons, seven ghosts, eight goblins, nine monsters, ten werewolves, eleven bats, and twelve creeping cats. As the book progresses, the "counted characters" are revealed to be children-in-costume, trick-or-treating in "a shivery, shivery, shivery scene, all make-believe on Halloween".
The story offers several important learning points, including counting, rhyming, and Halloween concepts.
Literary Merit:
This book would be a valuable addition to any pre-K through first-grade classroom. The author utilizes whimsy, humor, rhyme, repetition, and Halloween-themed characters to assist the reader in mastering simple counting concepts.
Genre Considerations:
'Trick or Treat Countdown' is a counting concept book. Counting is very well addressed throughout the story, incorporating the number in a variety of forms. Each number is reflected through a pictorial (character) illustration, is written numerically, and also, spelled out as an oversized word. Each two-page spread includes a rhyming set. All numbers and rhyming sets are revisited and reviewed with a count-down of the numbers and characters to close the story. The full-bleed illustrations were created with vivid gouache paint. Though the illustrations depict Halloween figures, the illustrator kept his three to seven-year-old audience in mind (the pictures should not be frightening, even to very young children). One criticism of the illustration is that on page three, the witches are described as "three green witches" however, the illustration depicts two green witches and one purple witch. This oversight might distract some readers.
Reader Response and Classroom Connections:
This book could nicely be paired with music, creating a "rhyming and counting Halloween song". The content beautifully lends itself to a multi-discipline lesson, including math (counting) and language arts (rhyming) concepts and a Halloween-themed unit and the book could easily be paired with fiction or non-fiction books related to those subject areas. Accompanying projects could include: a dramatic skit in which students could be assigned to portray different characters from the book, crafting to create students' favorite book character, and a felt-board matching game (pairing the number [written numerically] to the number, written as a word or to the appropriate quantity of felt characters).
October 9, 2012
Read this story in the fall during a math lesson to get students started on math with a fun book. More on the k-2 level, students can use the pictures to keep track of the halloween inspired characters. Upper elem. students can read along and even multiply instead of adding. Make a bingo game with the characters.
January 21, 2016
Cute fun book. Counts both up and down. Repeatedly mentions that all the "scary" Halloween stuff is all pretend, so would be helpful to prepare kids who might be scared. The pictures and cute and non-frightening.
September 5, 2009
Great for storytime interaction through sound and movement. Pictures are not my favorite, but great for counting.
October 23, 2012
Halloween counting book 1-12 and backwards; bold, bright yet ugly illustrations
themes: Halloween, numbers
themes: Halloween, numbers
November 8, 2014
Simple counting book with Halloween theme. Lots to count.
December 1, 2016
A cute book that takes Halloween things and counts them a sound they make till 12 and then goes down again but are they really Halloween things or costumes? Toddler and up.
October 3, 2012
A cute Halloween counting book. Should hopefully keep the attention of my 3s and 4s.
November 1, 2016
This is a great book to do numbers for storytime. This book counts up to 10 then counts down again.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews