Hallowe'en Tree

THE HALLOWE'EN TREE by Ray Bradbury
Simon & Schuster (US - Knopf) - Jan. 2000 (UK - Earthlight) - Sept. 1999
ISBN: 0375803017 - Paperback
Fantasy / Sci-Fi
Ages 9 - 12

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde, MyShelf.com
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Since I first discovered Ray Bradbury as a wonder-hungry child I can't think of any other novelist whose inimitable style I would rather possess. This is a timely reprint of this classic from 1972 where eight boys, clad in their Hallowe'en costumes discover the true history of the festival as they fly on the wings of the wind with their magical mentor Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud. One of them is missing - where is Pipkin who is the quintessential boy? It is their mission to save him from the Grim Reaper as they journey back through ten thousand years of fear, superstition and magic. Their travels take then from the cave dwellers and ancient Egyptians fearing that the sun won't return through the Druid's Samhain, the witch mania of the middle ages, gargoyle giving shape to our ancestors' fears and modern festivals of El Dia De Muerte and Hallowe'en. They fly as the tail of a kite, ride on broomsticks, talk to a mummy and more.

Ray Bradbury doesn't just use words as other writers do he has adventures with them and twists and pulls them like taffy to get at their magical marrow. This is definitely one for everybody's keeper shelf.