Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #433341 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This ominous book, thrillingly chillustrated in high-contrast scratchboard, describes an uncanny Halloween decoration. Fred McFee is just a toy skeleton dangling from a tree, but he makes two siblings nervous. "He isn't real, but it's hard to tell-/ He's plastic, head to toe./ But all of his bones are joined so well,/ No one would ever know!" Bunting's (Smoky Night) classic rhythms cultivate an eerie ambiguity; Fred vanishes and a grave appears. Seen from precipitous angles, Cyrus's (Sixteen Cows) realistic images of billowing curtains, glowing jack-o'-lanterns and a watchful owl will give readers goosebumps. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-"There's a skeleton high in our sycamore tree,/High as high can be./He was hung up there by my sister and me,/High in our sycamore tree." With this spooky refrain, Bunting opens her ambiguously creepy tale. Strange things have been happening since the children brought the skeleton home, named it, and hung it up. The dog and rooster won't go near the tree, and the bones rattle and chatter in the dark, gusty night wind. The story, told in rhyme, keeps readers on the edge of their seats: is the skeleton made of plastic, as the children believe, or is it real? Cyrus's detailed, realistic illustrations, done in scratchboard and watercolor, are appropriately dark and are a perfect complement to the subtly scary mood of the text. Though this book is set near Halloween, children who enjoy a good shiver will want to read or hear it year-round. Pair it with Judy Sierra's The House That Drac Built (Harcourt, 1995) and Eve Bunting's Scary, Scary Halloween (Clarion, 1986) for a creepy Halloween storytime.
Heather E. Miller, Homewood Public Library, AL
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
K-Gr. 3. When a boy and his sister hang a plastic skeleton in their sycamore tree, an eeriness falls over the yard. The lifelike Skeleton Fred makes a scary "clickety-clack" sound, and all the animals have behaved strangely since his arrival. Halloween night is moonless and eerie, and in the morning, Fred has disappeared--and there is a fresh gravelike mound of dirt below the tree. Some children may be confused and even put-off by the abrupt and obscurely presented burial mound, especially since Bunting's rhymed couplets leave everything unexplained. But others will respond to the rolling rhythms, suspense, and well-crafted sense of "ghoulish, ghastly glee," which is beautifully echoed in Cyrus' bold scratchboard-and-watercolor illustrations. Fred's slightly sinister grin, jangling limbs, and the deep, dark night, all shown from dramatic, shifting perspectives make for especially effective pictures. A Halloween read-aloud for kids who can handle the challenging, open ending. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Ghoulish, Ghastly Glee!
This book might not be for very little ones because even though the text is pretty simple, the story has a spooky mysterious flavor to it. It is filled with exciting Halloween imagery and the rhyming words of the text flow well to help the story build to its ghostly conclusion. A brother and sister get a realistic-looking plastic skeleton at the fair and they hang it up in a tree for Halloween decoration. Their imaginations begin to run wild (or is it their imaginations?) They can hear the eery clacking of the skeleton's bones as the wind blows through the bare tree branches. They have named their skeleton Fred McFee and they suspect that he may be doing more than just his dance of the dead. Why does the old dog, Sam, stay away from the tree where the skeleton is hanging? Why have the hens stopped laying and where has the old rooster gone? After one particularly windy night Fred McFee himself disappears! Where he went, no one knows for certain. Maybe that bare spot of ground is his grave! Maybe he's even here now, haunting and clackety clacking his ghoulish dance. When the wind is blowing in the dark and the tree branches are clacking together, shhhh....is that Fred McFee?! Enjoy this atmospheric and imaginative story and its wonderful, lively illustrations and explore the delicious fun of scaring yourself silly with your kids. Beware of Fred McFee!

Clickety-clack, clickety clack
I stumbled across this book by chance and immediately fell in love with it. It is the perfect Halloween tale. Although recommended for ages 5 to 8, I read it to my 3 1/2 year old and she loves it! The illustrations are fabulous and very appealing to a child's imagination.

Not THAT scary
My 4 year old had no problem with the theme or the pictures, each kid is different when it comes to what scares them or doesn't. My son wanted to buy a plastic skeleton of his own after reading this book and whenever he does see a skeleton he refers to it as "Fred McFee" A fun Halloween story brilliantly illustrated by Kurt Cyrus