Cats enjoy all the glories of a human Halloween in this peek at popular October traditions. In Anderson-s colored pencil and acrylic glaze illustrations, a family of smiling, scarf-wearing felines heads to a pumpkin patch, where an errant mouse sends one pumpkin rolling. There, they select the sizable squashes they-ll cart home to carve into jack-o--lanterns (-Pumpkin drawing/pumpkin trace,/ pumpkin carving,/ pumpkin face!-). After donning costumes, the cats go trick-or-treating as the festive evening continues (-pumpkin candy, pumpkin scare-) and return home for their bedtime routine. Battigelli-s text-a series of rhyming, two-word phrases each beginning with -pumpkin--sometimes results in perplexing phrases (-Pumpkin partridge/ pumpkin mouse,/ pumpkin wheeling,/ pumpkin house-) but possesses a jaunty rhythm and a fun-to-pronounce quality. Ages 3-6. (Oct.)

PreS -After visiting a pumpkin patch, a pair of cats and their kittens pick pumpkins and take them home with them. Once home, they make jack-o'-lanterns, with the parent cats helping their children carve their pumpkins. The kittens then get ready for Halloween, putting on costumes, and the whole crew goes trick-or-treating together before returning home, hearing a bedtime story, and going to sleep. While not groundbreaking, this is a pleasant and suitable Halloween-themed picture book. The rhymes are short and rhythmic, although there are a couple of clunkers, such as the unfortunate attempt to rhyme "chum" with "mom." Despite a few uneven rhymes, the repetition and simplicity of the text make this an appealing choice for group-sharing during storytime. The art, created with colored pencil and acrylic glaze on watercolor paper, is warm and fuzzy, providing a safe, not-so-scary depiction of Halloween that is appropriate for young listeners. The book concludes with instructions on how children can carve their own jack-o'-lanterns, emphasizing the need for an adult helper. VERDICT A safe bet for libraries looking for autumnal and Halloween-themed picture books for the youngest patrons.-Laura J. Giunta, Garden City Public Library, NY