When I get excited about a book I find it funny that I don’t run out and tell everyone and anyone about it. Yet, I almost missed telling you about Spoops: The Little Spirits of Halloween by A.J. LoCascio and illustrator Laurie Conley. I will start by saying the very least I can say is it is an outstanding and fun story. There is a delightfully classical element as well as a modern tone which allows it to work for many ages. It is simple as it is about a girl who loves all things Halloween has parents who do not understand this passion. We have influences of Halloween Tree, Tim Burton’s version of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, 1990s Nickelodeon and Disney sitcoms and comedies, and even Rankin Bass movies. Or at least those were a few of the things I thought about when reading. 
Okay, it is a bit cliche as the parents are dentists and think Halloween is only about candy, and it is a bit silly how the parents come around to being fans, but despite all that I felt warm and happy after reading (and it wasn’t just because I was sitting in the sun trying to get some needed vitamin D). This is a fun, cute, nice book. There are no big baddies or serious issues, but there is tension. Will our girl have the fun she needs on Halloween? Will her parents catch her disobeying the rules? How many spooky Spoops (from bats, cats, plague doctors and nurses, pumpkins, skeletons, witches, ghosts and combinations) are out there and how can they help their new friends? 
Everything mixes together (text and art) to just make what may not become a Halloween Holiday Classic, but it is going to be a classic for your family, one that you could read year around and will want to read more than once.