Boo! How to Draw a Happy Witch and 99 Things That Go Bump in the Night by Joy Sikorski

Little Man, an adventurous cat, takes a moonlit stroll through the woods and finds many things--a crow and its alter ego, a scarecrow, Jack-o'Lanterns, ghostly trick-or-treaters, a snail, and, as promised, a Happy Witch. These and many more characters of the night are illustrated, in step-by-step line drawings, for young artists to copy, and even Little Man the cat gets his turn to be the artists' model.

Drawing books aimed at the Halloween season are few and far between, and Joy Sikorski's and husband Nick Sunday's just published How to Draw a Happy Witch and 99 Things That Go Bump in the Night (Sterling, 2011) temporarily has the September market all to themselves. Their drawing lessons, done in about ten steps for each figure, follow Little Man's wanderings, and as promised provide 99 subjects for their sketchy cartoon lessons. Most of these figures are not all all scary--a bird, chipmunk, porcupine--in the spooky sense, but for kids who love to draw and need just a few lines to get them going, this little spiral-bound book might provide the inspiration.

For children who yearn to learn the art of sketching seriously spooky creatures of the dark, however, the go-to guide is still Lee J. Ames' classic Draw 50 Monsters: The Step-by-Step Way to Draw Creeps, Superheroes, Demons, Dragons, Nerds, Dirts, Ghouls, Giants, Vampires, Zombies, and Other Curiosa, one of his beloved Draw 50 series, which will keep most any art-loving kid busy until, oh, Memorial Day at least!