The Halloween Tree (original 1972; edition 2001)

Rating: 4 of 5

A quick read perfect for October, read aloud around the fire. Probably most entertaining for those aged 11-15 years.

Note to self: The Halloween Tree was the first book I read by Ray Bradbury. ( )

Read it again after many years and thoroughly enjoyed it. ( )

The Halloween Tree is both a celebration of Halloween and a simplified crash-course on its origins and history. It also pays homage to friendship and loyalty among boys.

Through the eyes of 8 boys, we go on a magical journey with the mysterious Mr. Moundshroud and experience 8 different Halloweens, each of which mirror the costumes that the boys are wearing.

While traveling from time to time, and place to place, the boys learn about different cultures and how each culture celebrates Halloween. At the same time, they are on a quest to save their friend, Pipkin, who is, in some undefined way, in danger. The boys see Pipkin in nearly every place and time that they visit, but only fleetingly, until the end when each boy must make his sacrifice in order to try save their friend.

Entertaining, but personally it was not my favorite Bradbury. I would recommend it for Halloween lovers and children, especially boys. =)

( )

I haven't read this since I was ten, but since it effectively ruined actual Halloween for me, I'm letting the nostalgia vote stand. ( )

Even though I'd been warned, this was written for a younger audience than I expected - more middle grade than young adult, really.

My 1974 edition has some wonderfully creepy pen and ink drawings that remind me of Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas." And there's a few built-in references to Dickens's A Christmas Carol, with the neighborhood boys traveling to Halloweens of the past to witness what they were like.

Bradbury is wonderful at making me feel what it must have been like to be a boy in the '60s. I think this is one that I would have adored had I read it when it was more age-appropriate. ( )