Alien Stranger! E. T. The Extraterrestrial by Melissa Mathison

It was the week before Halloween. Elliott wanted to play with his brother Michael, but he said "NO."

I can fight goblins, too!" said Elliott

"Just go get the pizza," said Michael.

Elliot trudges out to pay for their pizza delivery, feeling a bit sad that his brother no longer wants to play with him. But when he hears a noise and spots some strange tracks, he forgets all about Michael and follows the odd footprints into their dark shed.

It definitely wasn't a coyote!

But when Elliott tries to convince his family that there's something or someone really weird out there, Michael is only interested in the pizza.

When Elliott goes out to look for the strange goblin by day, he sees uniformed people with odd equipment searching the area. Wanting to help the strange visitor, Elliott leaves a trail of candy to try to attract the little stranger to the house. And when he and sister find the alien being snacking in their house, they disguise him as a treat-or-treater and sneak him into the woods, where he tells them he's going to "call home." And what the two see is a Halloween night Elliott will never forget.

If trick-or-treat excursions aren't exciting enough, Melissa Mathison's picture book version E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: The Classic Illustrated Storybook (Pop Classics)(Quirk Books, 2019) gives young readers a a quick preview of the blockbuster movie, E.T. But you'll need an alien costume and perhaps a hankie for the sweet and sad parts, just right for the scary season. And don't forget the Reese's Pieces!