Ding Dong! Who's There? Pete the Cat: Trick or Pete--A Lift-the-Flap Book by James Dean

Pete the Cat is excited to go trick or treating in his superhero costume.

Pete likes everything about Halloween--except the possibility that he's going to see something truly scary.

"Don't worry," says Pete's dad. We have our flashlight!"

But it's dark outside and the wind is going "Whooooo!" and something is rustling those dry leaves in the trees.

Oh, look! It's just an owl. That's not too scary!

Pete's trying to be brave and fearless, as behooves a superhero in a cape, but there are a lot of spooky possibilities on Halloween night, which give author James Dean a lot of ways to use the flaps in this inexpensive holiday paperback to suggest what may be lurking behind each well-placed flap. When he rings the first doorbell, Pete hears scary noises coming from behind that door. Who's there?

It's just his school friend Callie Cat, costumed as a witch. Not scary!

Callie tags along as Pete approaches the next house. But what's that tall figure moving in the yard?

Look! It's a scarecrow!

"Phew! That's not too spooky!"

And approaching another door, Pete spies something glowing with a flickering light and frightening faces. Look!

"Cool!" says Pete. "Jack O' Lanterns!"

But behind him! What's that? A dog in a tutu? Silly, not spooky!

"Oh! Just my friend Emma!"

There's even Grandma in a ghost costume to discover, as Pete meets and greets all the usual suspects out for trick-or-treat fun, in James Dean's Pete the Cat: Trick or Pete (HarperFestival, 2017). Dean's inexpensive little paperback is a fine treat for preschoolers who are still not too sure about venturing out in the dark, as it introduces youngsters to all those sights and sounds that abound on the trick-or-treat route. Dean's Pete the Cat is a popular guide for preschoolers and primary school kids wherever they go, and this one should be read soon to would-be Halloween goers.