Reading/Interest Level: Preschool
Author: Helen Lester
Illustrator: Lynn Munsinger
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Halloween is coming to the penguins in Nice Icy Land, so the penguins have decided to turn their igloo into a haunted igloo for their trick-or-treaters. Goodly and Lovely decorate their home with Halloween decorations and Angel, Neatly, and Perfect make all kinds of spooky treats. Tacky ate the treats. The penguins need to choose scary costumes so that they can be the one to haunt their igloo, so they all dress up as things that they are afraid of. But Tacky can’t think of anything that scares him. When something really scary comes to their door, there are no yummy treats to give them. Tacky’s scary costume is what it will take to save the day for all of the penguins.
Tacky is an odd penguin, but in this book his friends learn to appreciate and value him for his unique abilities. Like with other Tacky books, adults can talk to children about how valuing everyone’s uniqueness is important. The vocabulary might be somewhat advanced for some readers, especially when the hunters show up and are using nonstandard English. The book does seem to assume that readers have already read other books about Tacky. The book has a little bit of an odd plot point for a children’s picture book (dangerous villains coming to rob the penguins), but fans of Halloween or Tacky’s previous books will enjoy this new spooky adventure.