Switcheroo: Five Little Monkeys Trick-Or-Treat by Eileen Christelow

THE FIVE LITTLE MONKEYS DRESS UP FOR HALLOWEEN.

"HURRY" SAYS MAMA. "YOUR FAVORITE BABY SITTER IS HERE TO TAKE YOU TRICK-OR-TREATING."

"GHOST, PRINCESS, GOBLIN, ALIEN, BANANA," MAMA REMINDS LULU. "DON'T LOSE THE RASCALS!"

"DON'T WORRY!" SAYS LULU.

Lulu leads her charges down the street, where Alien meets a friend dressed as a fluffy blue bunny. The two admire each other's costumes so much that they decide to trade outfits on the spot.

"EVERYONE WILL BE SO CONFUSED!" THEY WHISPER.

The new alien joins the group. Lulu is too busy to notice, but the other four monkeys do, and they suddenly feel the urge to trade costumes with their friends. One by one, Banana, Princess, Ghost, and Goblin switch outfits, and the non-monkeys join the bogus alien in Lulu's entourage, while the real little monkeys, disguised as Bunny, Pumpkin, Grapes, Robot, and TV, trail at a discreet distance down the street, giggling at their joke.

"THIS IS THE BEST HALLOWEEN TRICK!" SAYS THE GOBLIN.

LUCY DOESN'T SEEM TO NOTICE.

While the mischievous monkeys chortle at their joke, Lulu takes an inventory of her charges. Suddenly she changes course.

"WE HAVE TO GET HOME FOR THE BIG HALLOWEEN TREAT!" SHE CALLS.

As the impostor trick-or-treaters gleefully hurry after Lulu hoping for the big treat, the five little monkeys are suddenly worried. What big treat? Their joke seems to have backfired.

At first Mama is a bit surprised to see the returned trick-or-treaters. Somehow Alien, Banana, Ghost, Goblin, and Princess seem rather different from the way they looked when they left. A peek at the five faces peering anxiously through the window and a nod and wink from Lulu tell Mama the whole story.

Meanwhile the desperate real monkeys ring the bell and cry,

"TRICK OR TREAT, MAMA!"

"THERE MUST BE SOME MISTAKE," SHE SAYS.

Mama points out that her little Alien, Banana, Ghost, Goblin, and Princess are already present and accounted for, and pretends to close the door on the now sad little tricksters.

Now what do they do?

Eileen Christelow's beloved five little monkeys are back in a perfect trick-the-tricksters treat of a tale, Five Little Monkeys Trick-or-Treat (A Five Little Monkeys Story) (Houghton Mifflin Clarion, 2013), as Mama and Lulu turn the tables on the would-be tricksters. There's a happy conclusion and a treat from Lulu, who has a final trick up her sleeve, in the form of eyeball cookies and worm juice for all, including the impostors. As a final treat Christelow even appends the recipes for these tricky treats on the final endpapers! A great night out with some favorite book friends, right in time for a pre-Halloween treat.

Christelow's Five Little Monkeys stories are an excellent extended series, one which has maintained continuity and consistent quality from the initial title, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, right through to this fun-as-a-barrel-of-monkeys title, forthcoming for the upcoming scary season.

"Another winner in the further adventures of the familiar five," says School Library Journal.