In this Halloween story, the color scheme used in previous Babymouse books switches from prodimently pink to orange. Babymouse is planning a party and enjoys scary costumes, but is told that girls should be pretty. After trick-or-treating in a fairy costume with the "pretty" girls o are mostly interested in playing nasty tricks bymouse switches back into her zombie costume and declares a rule for her party: only scary costumes allowed. Throughout, Babymouse has imaginary encounters with classic monsters that aren't too frightening for younger readers, and her preference for monsters over prettiness should encourage those who don't care to be overly girly.

Babymouse sheds her pink-hued world for the orange and black of Halloween. Felicia Furrypaw tells Babymouse that girls have to be something pretty for Halloween. Should Babymouse go along with Felicia's rules? It's a relief when Babymouse finds her backbone and sends the bossy girl packing. Familiar situations, easy language, and an uncomplicated graphic structure make this series a hit.

What's scarier than a zombie mouse? Why, Felicia Furrypaws and her storm troopers, who suck all the fun out of Babymouse's Halloween by their insistence on her following "the rules" in exchange for their gracing her posttrick-or-treat party with their dubious presence. Exchanging orange for their customary pink to accent their black-and-white panels, the Holms demonstrate again why Babymouse is one of the best characters going, her imagination taking over the pages with horror-movie scenes as she negotiates the hazards of elementary-school friendships on a particularly horrifying Halloween night. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)