Nancy Poydar taught elementary school for fourteen years before leaving to write and illustrate full time for children. Much of her inspiration still comes from these years spent in the classroom as well as her own childhood. Her work has been lauded as "buoyant," "cheerful," and "rhythmic" by "School Library Journal." She lives in Massachusetts.
K-Gr 2-Arnold just knows that his pirate costume is scary enough to win the "Scariest of All" prize in his school's Halloween parade. After boasting about it to his classmates, he realizes he left it on the bus. When it comes time for the students to change into their costumes, Arnold unsuccessfully invents a "scary bug" outfit at the last minute. Feeling left out and disappointed, he crawls under a drop cloth to hide. Before long, everyone is looking for him and he ends up frightening them all, including the teacher, when he gets the idea to stand up under the sheet and howl like a ghost. All ends well, as Arnold is declared the "Scariest of All." The accompanying artwork created with pencil and gouache features a racially mixed classroom. These slightly unfinished-looking illustrations adequately depict the text but fail to add dimension. Still, this is an amusing Halloween story, suitable for reading aloud, that's likely to please children.
Melinda Piehler, North Tonawanda Public Library, NY
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