Irish Hallowe'en, An

by Sarah Kirwan Blazek, James Rice (Illustrator)

On the Emerald Isle, Hallowe'en becomes even trickier, courtesy of three good-for-nothing goblins.

Genres: Picture Books, Halloween

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1999

Reviews

[Kaycee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mischievous goblins are out to save their friend but to do it they need a Wise Woman for help, but when they try to keep the Wise Woman it's up to her children to try and save her. This is a traditional Irish tale and it's told in rhyming verse. Some of the rhymes however aren't quite there and when they throw in traditional Irish words the reader has to skip down the bottom to figure out what the author is talking about by looking at a translation. This really disrupts the rhythm of the story, which is tenuous at best at times. The author didn't seem to put a lot of focus on the flow of the words she uses which really stunts the poem that drives through the book at times. This probably wouldn't be a book that I would recommend but if I were to focus on an age group it would probably be for K-1 graders.

[Esme · Rating 2 out of 5]

On Snap Apple Night in Ireland, three goblins kidnap the Wise Woman. Her eleven children must help rescue her.

The storyline was OK, all told in rhyme and meter. I liked the Celtic references, but felt the footnotes got in the way of the story. The illustrations are pretty rough. The value of this book lies in it's educational value. Learning about Snap Apple Night is interesting.