Zooloween: A Festive Picture Book for Kids (Ages 4-8) about Zoo Animals in Halloween Costumes

by Alan Katz, Stephanie Laberis (Illustrator)

A llama astronaut! A grilled-cheese cheetah! A quarterback yak! It’s Halloween at the zoo, and it's time for the animals to show off their costumes! But who will win the prize for best dressed? This night is full of fun and surprises! Children and parents alike will love this festive story by beloved New York Times bestselling author Alan Katz, brought to life with delightfully vibrant illustrations by acclaimed artist Stephanie Laberis.

Genres: Halloween, Picture Books, Animals, Holiday, Childrens, Juvenile, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

Published July 16, 2024

Reviews

[Stephanie Affinito · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zooloween by Alan Katz is a delightful story about a Halloween parade of animals at the local zoo. From the yak dressed as a football player and a tiger playing the bagpipes to a grilled cheese cheetah and a “dandy-lion”, these costumed animals will compete for the best dressed prize….and the winner will likely surprise you. This fun and melodic book is told in rhyme to delight the ears as much as the eyes. Stephanie Laberis has brought the scene to life with bright colors, gorgeous costumes and animated animal expressions. This is a book to be enjoyed year after year to celebrate the season AND bring some imaginary delight to your day.

[SOYAMRG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katz’s new Halloween picture book is a fun romp.

Zookeeper Sue is hosting a Halloween parade at the zoo. Every animal wants to win the best costume contest. Newscaster, Mike Minor, narrates the parade. The crowd cheers as the disguised animals parade before them. There is a goat dressed as a chicken, a bison slithering like a snake, a ballerina fox and lots more. The rhyming text describes each costumed animal as it passes by. However, as the parade ends, the animals stampede! Zookeeper Sue has to stop the chaos. Once all the animals return to their cages, pens, habitats and dens, the animals are fed. Finally, the costume winner is named.

Katz creates a fun, non-scary Halloween story for little ones. A few of the rhymes are a bit forced, but with a bit of practice the reader should be able to read them fluently. Laberis’ illustrations are fantastic. They steal the show. They are bright, colorful and extremely expressive. Young readers will love the Easter Bunny cow, the grilled cheese cheetah, and all the other crazy costumed animals. The costume winner is quite a surprise. This title is a wonderful addition to Halloween collections.

I Recommend it for school and public libraries serving grades Pre-K through fourth.

M.A.C.
Retired School Librarian

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one will likely appeal to the young animal lovers. It’s a fun twist on the typical Halloween picture books with a bunch of zoo animals dressing up for a costume parade. Fun and hijinks ensue. As an adult, I felt concern for the poor zoo animals with the overwhelmed zookeeper who eventually yells at them for frolicking about (in their rare unfettered freedom) and makes them go back to their cages (they seem so happy to do so, too… sigh) but I can see the appeal for kiddos who aren’t yet puzzling the moral quandaries of zoos. Rhyme scheme is sometimes a bit off-cadence which made me stumble a few times reading aloud. But, it is fun to see the different animals dressing up. “That zebra’s kind and friendly, mostly. But now she’s spooky and quite ghostly!” “Tiger has said goodbye to stripes. He’s now in plaid, and plays bagpipes!”

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this was going to be cuter than it turned out being. I really like the idea of a Zooloween and the zoo’s animals celebrating Halloween. I really liked the rhyming too. It was well done, at the start, but I thought about halfway through until the end, it wasn’t as good.

The animals mostly dressed up as other animals. The bison as a snake, goat as a duck, etc.

Then it made no sense that the animals stampeded at the end of the costume party. Keeper Sue was thunderstruck. Then she’s yelling at the animals to have order. That just ruined it and came out of nowhere. She stood by pointing to their enclosures and standing with her arms crossed like they were errant children. They were loose the whole time. It also didn’t sound good that she ordered them back to their cages.

Then the twist ending was that the man standing with the mic was really a myna inside the costume. That bird definitely could hold up an entire human costume…
It won the costume contest and was shown flying with the trophy. It got random and not as good when the ending.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A precious books about zoo animals on Halloween! My child loved seeing the animals with creative costumes and a hilarious twist at the end! Beautiful illustrations with a variety of colors. Was a bit long if you have a child with a short attention span but a great add to your seasonal book rotation.

[Rachel Adrianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUPER CUTE book about zoo animals dressing up for Halloween! Would be a good book to read with a a younger child, working on their vocabulary. You could point out which animal is dressed like a chicken, or that looks like an elephant but it's really a _____. Very bright and colorful illustrations- probably too interactive for bedtime.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually fairly charming. The illustrations are a little basic, but functional. The text is very humorous -- I grew up with Alan Katz's silly rhymes and I'm glad to know he's still got it. This will be cute for preschoolers at halloween, but I wish the trim size was a little larger.

[Catie · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the creatures at the zoo dress up in costume. The illustrations are fun, and full of silliness.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cute but clumsy rhyming story of zoo animals dressed in costumes for a Halloween parade through the zoo.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's Halloween at the zoo, and all the animals are in costume and on parade in this rhyming fun tale. Who will win the prize for the best in the show? It will be revealed at the end of the parade.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

The kids loved trying to figure out what each animal was dressed as. So cute!

[DiAnne Warfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holt-Delhi PJ story time 10-22-2025