#92 of 1001 · October 31, 2020

Halloween is here. On this night, when the specter of death looms large in the landscape of the human mind, I wish you warmth and safety in the arms of your loved ones. For the final book in this sequence of seven, I present hist whist, a poem by e. e. cummings with illustrations by Deborah Kogan Ray. I can scarcely imagine a selection that better captures the spirit of the holiday. In each stanza, cummings employs abstract language that coalesces into a playful evocation of the eerie sights and sounds of Halloween night: “little ghostthings/tip-toe/twinkle-toe”, “rustle and run and/hidehidehide”, “look out for the old woman/with the wart on her nose/what she’ll do to yer/nobody knows”. Ray’s darkly glowing, jewel-toned illustrations, inspired by glimpses of neighborhood trick-or-treaters, convey us to a shadowy demimonde where witches, goblins, and devils lurk, flocking together to whisper, to dance, to frighten...and to jubilantly unmask. Happy Halloween. #deborahkoganray #eecummings #trickortreat #trickortreating #halloween #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcover #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks