Review of LOS GATOS BLACK ON HALLOWEEN

Bibliography:

Montes, Marisa. 2006. Los Gatos Black on Halloween. Illustrated by Yuyi Morales. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0805074295

Summary:

In this poem, various creatures of the night gather at a haunted house and have a monster ball. Spanish words are introduced throughout the poem.

Critical Analysis:

One only has to see the cover of Los Gatos Black on Halloween to know that it tells a scary tale. This 2008 Pura Belpre Award winner for illustration is filled with other-worldly paintings of witches, skeletons and various creatures of the night. Yuyi Morales’ paintings, with their muted colors and ghoulish images, fill each page and provide the perfect backdrop for Marisa Montes’ bilingual poem about “los monstrous (who) throw a monstrous ball”. The artwork is detailed and may frighten younger children with the images of “las tumbas open, tombs awake” and other terrors of the night. Older children, however, who enjoy scary stories, will be entertained by the detailed paintings of skeletons sporting moustaches and braids, and corpses preparing for the dance. These images bring the words of the poetry to life.

Los Gatos Black on Halloween is fun to read aloud. The rhythm of the couplets flows smoothly as Montes describes the various creatures “in a slow and strange parade. . . (to) a haunted casa, long asleep”. The suspense builds until readers are treated to a surprise ending when the monsters end up being the ones who are scared by los “ninos at the door. (For) of all the horrors they have seen, the WORST are kids on Halloween!” The author has creatively woven Spanish words in each stanza, so even the youngest reader can guess their meaning in couplets like “Las brujas guide their broomsticks high, the witches on escobas fly.” And, in case they cannot, Morales’ illustrations will aid in the process. I cannot think of a more enjoyable introduction to Spanish than reading Los Gatos Black on Halloween.

Connections:

Introduce other Spanish words to the children, such as number words, colors, and greetings.

Read other books by Marisa Montes:

JUAN BOBO BUSCA TRABAJO. ISBN 0061136816

EGG-NAPPED! ISBN 0061136816

For older children (7 and up), read:

A CRAZY MIXED-UP SPANGLISH DAY. ISBN 0439475198

NO MORE SPANISH. ISBN 0439475228

PLEASE DON’T GO! ISBN 0439475236

Read and look at other books illustrated by Yuyi Morales:

Morales, Yuyi. JUST A MINUTE: A TRICKSTER TALE AND COUNTING BOOK.
ISBN 0811837580

Morales, Yuyi. LITTLE NIGHT. ISBN 9781596430884

White, Amanda. SAND SISTER. ISBN 1841486175