Hap-Pea Halloween (2025) is a strange but pleasant little book.
Author-illustrator Keith Baker has created a number of kids books, such as LMNO Peas. (I recently learned there’s an audio version of that book, recorded by Stanley Tucci!) It is therefore no surprise that this book is masterfully crafted. The pages all have great design, and the book uses color exceptionally well. All pages are black, which both aligns with the Halloween topic and allows bright colors like the orange of the pumpkin or the green of the peas to stand out. Some pages are just a design in very dark gray against black.
The boo doesn’t really tell a story, but instead offers a series of statements and questions in rhyme about what is coming up (Halloween!) and what kids will do or dress as for the holiday. There are lots of call-outs to famous figures and stories common to pop and folk culture (Some of the rhymes are basic: hat/bat. Some are new and original: Saturn/Jack-O’-Lantern [yes, that’s how the book spells it]). The book ends up with a colorful, inviting two-page “Trick or Treat!” spread.
Small green peas appear on and as just about everything in the book, giving kids lots to spot and point at.
My one question about the book is why isn’t anything pea-related included. Nothing really food-related, nothing about peas hiding in salads, no peas in a pod. Except for the tie-in to other books, and the innate coolness of little green and round “creatures” (peas with arms and legs), why peas?
