![]() ![]() ![]() With the help of a freaky dude named Moundshroud, Pipkin’s buddies are whisked away on a big kite to track down and save their friend. The kids happen to be exploring a haunted house on the outskirts of town, and a nearby “Halloween tree” with grinning pumpkin heads hanging from its branches, when one of the brats, the irrepressible Pipkin, is snatched from our reality by some otherworldly force. Said quirks occur mostly in the opening pages, which lay out the rural Midwestern setting a bit too lyrically: “And it was the afternoon of Halloween…And all the houses shut against a cool wind…And the town full of cold sunlight…But suddenly, the day was gone.” Yet once the scene is set and the protagonists-nine costumed boys-are introduced, the book (literally) takes off. In other words, the book is somewhat lacking in the narrative and characterization departments, but is still very hard not to like.Īt a breathless 145 pages with copious black and white illustrations by Joseph Mugnaini and larger than average printing, you certainly can’t fault the novel for being hard to read…even if it does contain some annoying stylistic quirks. ![]() This kid book trifle isn’t Ray Bradbury’s best work, but is nonetheless an extremely readable and erudite display of imagination and phantasmagoric imagery. ![]()
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