Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #174407 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-22
• Released on: 2006-08-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780805074291
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From School Library Journal
Grade 1-4–Montes smoothly incorporates Spanish terms into a rhythmic poem describing a moonlit Halloween night. Los esqueletos rattle bones and clatter in a dance, los fantasmas drag their chains and shriek their pains, and los muertos emerge from their graves to join other creatures at a haunted casa for music and dancing. However, the party stops dead with the arrival of trick-or-treaters, which causes the frightened spooks to hide, for The thing that monsters most abhor/Are human niños at the door! The full-bleed paintings create a creepy mood with curving lines, fluid textures, and dusky hues. Rounded figures dance across the atmospheric spreads, which depict blank-faced skeletons, a toothy werewolf, and a child zombie with glowing eyes. The pictures are eerie enough to tingle spines, but the effect is leavened with bits of humor (witches perform skateboard tricks on their brooms, a vampire admires himself in a mirror that reflects only his clothing). The poems cadenced rhymes and descriptive language build suspense until the satisfying ending. Spanish words are easy to understand in context, but are also defined in a glossary with pronunciation guides. This book is just right for children who are beginning to find typical Halloween fare a bit too tame.–Joy Fleishhacker, School Library Journal
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
K-Gr. 2. A cat's green eyes stare out from the book's cover. Inside, there are more of los gatos--as well as las brujas (witches), los fantasmas (ghosts), and los esqueletos (skeletons looking like they have come from a Dia de los Muertos celebration. The pithy, rhyming text tells a frightening, if familiar, story. The ghosts and ghoulies are off to a Monsters' Ball at Haunted Hall, and though there's plenty of scary stuff around, the guests are most frightened by the children who come knocking at the door for trick-or-treat. Montes' evocative poem deserves exceptional artwork, and Morales obliges. Her soft-edged paintings glow with the luminosity of jewels, and her witches, werewolves, and corpses are frighteningly executed. Therein lies what may be a problem for preschoolers. These fiends aren't particularly kid-friendly; they are dead-eyed, Day of the Dead folk who scare. For slightly older children, however, this spookiness is what Halloween is all about. The Spanish is neatly integrated into the text, but for those who need clarification, a glossary is appended. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Customer Reviews

Breath-taking!!!!
Los Gatos Black is my all-time favorite Halloween book. It shrieks and howls and creaks and made me laugh and shiver at the same time. Montes' words leap off the page and Morales' artwork shines and shimmers and conjures up images of her native Mexican Day of the Dead. It is breath-taking...

Atmospheric, Phantasmagorical, Endlessly Fascinating
Love the concept, love the text. Ah, but the illustrations are the main treat - better than a bagful of Snickers and Atomic Fireballs! So spooky, so rich, and full of delicious details - you can get lost in them for hours!

So beautiful, You'll Want to Read It All Year Long
Halloween is my favorite holiday and now it has a new tradition: a book to be read on October 31, and throughout the year.
"Los Gatos Black on Halloween" is as rich and delicious as a slice of pumpkin pie. All the creepy creatures from the other world are gathering for their yearly bash at the local haunted house. Ghosts and Ghouls, Witches and Vamps, dance and cavort until the scariest monsters of all come trick-or-treating at the door. Marisa Montes' rhyming text is spot on.
And Yuyi Morales' illustrations kick the whole thing up to an even more supernatural level. She layers rich cultural references (Is that an Aztec giving the conquistador the raspberry?) and witty humor (the vain vampire checking his hair IN A MIRROR) into her astounding artwork, reminiscent of the finest Mexican muralists.
This little trick is a definite treat.