Favorite Halloween read-aloud book

Hands down, The Ghost-Eye Tree by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault. It's about a little boy and his big sister who are asked by their mother to run an errand one dark autumn night, and they have to pass the dreaded "ghost-eye tree" twice during the journey. Overcoming fear, sibling relationships, completing a task whatever the circumstances are all a part of the story. We've had the book for years - bought it at a school book fair when Kate was in the 2nd or 3rd grade - and it's a real favorite.

Oooo. . .
how dark it was . . .
how dread it was . . .
walking the road
to the end of the town . . .
for the halfway tree . . .
the Ghost-Eye tree . . .
was feared by all . . .
the great and small
who walked the road
to the end of town . . .

The beauty of the book lies in the cadence of the narrative - often rhyming, but just as often not. You just have to read it out loud to appreciate it (much like Margaret Wise Brown's brilliant Goodnight, Moon - which never fails to pull a yawn out of me in anticipation of bedtime). I love the rhythm of the words in Ghost-Eye Tree.

Some folks object to the way the big sister treats the little brother - calling his hat "stupid" and such. This never bothers me for two reasons. First, well - it's a big sister and a little brother, and the language of the relationship seems well within the range of normal to me. And second, I think the big sister is sort of "whistling past the graveyard" when she's teasing her brother about his hat and what a 'fraidy cat he is. It's obvious that she's just as terrified (though sans hat). And when the hat is temporarily lost, big sister risks her life (in a kid-risking-life way) to go back to the tree to get it. So, I don't see the problem.

Oooo...
I dreaded to go...
I dreaded the tree....
Why does Mama always choose me
When the night is so darkAnd the mind runs free?

You can read it anytime of the year, of course, but it's absolutely perfect for Halloween. Just remember - you have to read it out loud!