Reviews for Trick or treat, smell my feet
School Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
K-Gr 2-Having packed his Martian Space Pilot costume in his bag, Gilbert, the hedgehog introduced in Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink (Morrow, 1996), trots off to school for a holiday parade and party. Imagine his dismay when he discovers that he has taken his sister Lola's sack and her pink ballerina outfit by mistake. As five of his classmates also decided to be Martian Space Pilots, it's not an unmitigated disaster-so he squeezes into the tutu and toughs it out, encountering surprise but not a trace of derision from his peers. Well, it could happen. De Groat moves her human-proportioned animal cast between a comfortable suburban neighborhood dotted with colorful autumn leaves and a school restroom where the boys change clothes. However skeptical they may be of the mild reaction to Gilbert's costume, young viewers will enjoy the glimpses of loudly colored underwear (plus, for many girls, exotic bathroom plumbing). Despite severely undersized tights, Gilbert isn't made to look all that ludicrous or uncomfortable. Although Lola reclaims her costume for the evening's trick-or-treating, she and her brother at least tinker with gender stereotypes, and that may plant seeds in some readers' minds.-John Peters, New York Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Gilbert and his sister accidentally switch costumes for their school's Halloween parade. "This cross-dressing caper gets primary-grade humor just right," said PW. Ages 5-up. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
School Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
PreS-Gr 2-Diane de Groat's fun Halloween story (HarperCollins, 1998) involves a big brother, a little sister, and pair of mixed-up costumes. Gilbert the hedgehog can't wait to wear his Martian space pilot costume, but when he gets to school he finds that a number of his friends have had the same idea. To make matters worse, Lola's ballerina costume is inside his paper bag. Gilbert puts on a brave front when discovered in a pink tutu. Jason Harris and Peter Pamela Rose perfectly capture the voices Lola and the school kids. The only jarring note is the narrators reading the signs in the illustrations (the name on the pizza shop, on the bathroom door, on the classroom door) in the middle of the narrative. An entertaining addition to read-along collections for young children.-Laura Davies, Kenton County Public Library, KY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
Ages 3^-8. De Groat's Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink! (1996) is a funny classroom romp about Valentine's Day. The holiday this time is Halloween. Chipmunk Gilbert and his little sister, Lola, prepare their costumes. She's a ballerina, but she wants to be just like him, a space pilot. By mistake he takes the bag with her ballerina costume to school for the parade. He's appalled, but when he discovers that most of his classmates are space pilots, he makes the most of being different, and he twirls triumphantly in his pink tutu to the refreshment table. Of course, then Lulu wants her costume back. De Groat's funny watercolor pictures capture the various animal creatures' very human expressions and body language; and the parade of pig, owl, penguin, duck, rabbit, bear, etc., in outlandish garb captures the dressing-up farce of the holiday. --Hazel Rochman
