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A review by dylanhenning
The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Note: it has come to my attention that Ray Bradbury is a controversial author. Upon looking him up I can say that many of his own beliefs on social and political issues do not match my own. In order to be as ethical as I can I borrowed this book from my local public library so no money went from my pockets directly to any family he may have or whoever controls his estate. That all being said I’m going to review this book as objectively as I can.
This book was far better than I was expecting. I was wanting something to read for Autumn/spooky season and this book kept getting recommended a lot so I decided to give it a try. I wasn’t expecting much as it is a children’s book. I was expecting a fun lightly spooky adventure and while I did get that this book is also so much more.
This book captures the essence of Autumn and Halloween and Bradbury’s descriptive writing paired with Gris Grimley’s illustrations give you this mental picture of the perfect Autumnal night.
I enjoyed the boys adventure through the history of Halloween with the mysterious Mr. Moundshroud as they try to save their friend from ho didn’t join them earlier in the evening for Trick-Or-Treating.
This book routinely talks about death and has an age appropriate way of talking to kids about death and dying. I won’t spoil anything here but I will say the ending of this book has a very unique plot twist thrown onto the boys that makes them and you the reader ponder the value of life.
So at this point you might be wondering why I rave so much about this book but only give it a 4.5? Well to me a 5 star book is perfect. I can’t think of a single thing that could have been done differently to make the book better. But with The Halloween Tree as great as it is I do think it has one minor flaw, it’s too short. I would have loved to see Bradbury expand this story and spend more time in the different lands talking about the different cultures and how they approach death in relation to Halloween.
This book was far better than I was expecting. I was wanting something to read for Autumn/spooky season and this book kept getting recommended a lot so I decided to give it a try. I wasn’t expecting much as it is a children’s book. I was expecting a fun lightly spooky adventure and while I did get that this book is also so much more.
This book captures the essence of Autumn and Halloween and Bradbury’s descriptive writing paired with Gris Grimley’s illustrations give you this mental picture of the perfect Autumnal night.
I enjoyed the boys adventure through the history of Halloween with the mysterious Mr. Moundshroud as they try to save their friend from ho didn’t join them earlier in the evening for Trick-Or-Treating.
This book routinely talks about death and has an age appropriate way of talking to kids about death and dying. I won’t spoil anything here but I will say the ending of this book has a very unique plot twist thrown onto the boys that makes them and you the reader ponder the value of life.
So at this point you might be wondering why I rave so much about this book but only give it a 4.5? Well to me a 5 star book is perfect. I can’t think of a single thing that could have been done differently to make the book better. But with The Halloween Tree as great as it is I do think it has one minor flaw, it’s too short. I would have loved to see Bradbury expand this story and spend more time in the different lands talking about the different cultures and how they approach death in relation to Halloween.