Blame the Christmas Tree
Written: Sep 27 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Pace, antics, Halloween wins, Herdman style disaster, FUNNY
Cons: Full of ideas for mischievous kids
The Bottom Line: Fans of the Herdmans and Robinson's books will want this in their collection with The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Expect a lot of laughs, and moans, in this sprightly book.
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| pestyside's Full Review: |
"Just all the lights went out and you didn’t know where you were and there were a lot of strange noises and spooky stuff and then a whole ton of candy! Great Halloween."
The Herdmans are beyond a doubt the worst kids in the entire town. They’ve ruined every holiday including all of the past Halloweens. They are predictable and yet unpredictable. For that reason the Mayor canceled Halloween for this year. It was on the newspaper’s front page. ”Out of concern for public safety,” the article said, “and to avoid possible damage to property. Local merchants will neither purchase nor stock the usual supply of Halloween candy.” The Herdmans didn’t need to go trick or treating, they just took everyone else’s candy. They didn’t wear costumes; they were scary enough without dressing up.
Barbara Robinson’s The Best Halloween Ever is her third misadventure with the infamous Herdman gang. There are six, one in each grade. They are masters of nasty little tricks and there’s little they haven’t done. As Halloween approached this year the Mayor, Principal, and parents were all exceptionally anxious about the upcoming holiday. What acts of destruction and havoc would they create?
The Herdmans are nasty, obnoxious, dirty, rude, and intimidating, but despite their worst intentions they often do something controversially good. Nobody wanted anything to do with these ruffians who could quickly destroy a holiday with their antics. In The Best Christmas Pageant Ever they took over the Christmas pageant while showing the entire community the true meaning of Christmas. In The Best School Year Ever the Herdmans turned an otherwise boring school year into one to remember. Herdman and Robinson fans certainly celebrated when this was released in 2004.
Thanks to this unruly family, Halloween was going to be trick-or-treatless and candy-free. What could be worse? Naturally the Herdmans had something up their sleeves. They know how to create a disaster and a great event at the same time, but how you judge it depends upon your perspective. Are you an adult or a child?
Everyone was all decked out in their costumes, adults were relieved that this was going to be a worry-free and perfect holiday; the rooms were spooky and appropriately haunted. Only a handful of kids realized that some of the costumes were on the wrong children. All chaos happens, in true Herdman style, when Alice’s Christmas Tree causes the lights to go out. The night becomes spectacularly spooky and once again it’s a night to remember.
Barbara Robinson’s first Best/Worst book, the Christmas Pageant, ended with a heart-warming message. Several Herdman children were featured throughout the book, but in this we have little direct exposure with the chaos-team. Their actions are all implied; they are all remembered and suggested as well as dreaded, until the end when they become reality. This is all reputation until near the conclusion when you discover what kind of a riotous night they have in store. Fortunately they had assistance from an unlikely candidate and when the lights went out, their clever plan was enhanced.
Perhaps not as entertaining as the previous two, this is still good for a lot of laughs and groans. Both third through fifth grade readers and adults will enjoy this classically funny kid's book. Find out why everyone looks unusual and laugh when kids fall into the “sea of candy.” Just where did all that candy come from in a town that wasn’t selling Halloween treats? Was it a visit from the Halloween tooth fairy? I recommend this as a Halloween favorite. Since I’m an adult my recommendation is probably suspect for most kids, but the kid in me says, yeah, and it’s hilarious, and I also add for the kids, Halloween is still my favorite holiday.
This book is my eighth contribution hadassahchana’s and dramastef’s Fight Illiteracy Write Off. There's still time to contribute.
Recommended:
Yes
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