This picture book Luna and the Witch Throw a Halloween Party, is a Halloween story. As it says so in the title, but also because it is a book about celebrating Halloween with a party. But I would read Aubrey Plaza, Dan Murphy, and Hannah Peck’s story any time of the year, as it is also about the right way to go about making friends.
It is silly, funny and hopeful. It has a little information about adapting things to fit a wider variety of people and their tastes. It is due late July/early August 2025 and therefore will be a perfect treat for your own Halloween party celebrations. Or if you’re lucky enough to find an online reader copy I do recommend pre-reading so you can start your list of how many people you will be purchasing this for. Probably best for the at least five to eight year old, it really can work for most ages, including adults.
The illustrations are fun, the story itself is clever, and the overall is a fantastic read. Maybe the theme is not new, but the way things are fitted together really makes it fresh and new. The colors are perfect for Halloween without being “obvious Halloween” yet, they scream Haunted House, and Witch Alert. The house has great details (spiders, cobwebs, ghosts, and more), the humor (our witch rather make rotten pumpkin pies than carve them) but it is not over the top, too cliche or does not flow. There is rhyme but you don’t always “feel” that pattern, it just flows.