#454 of 1001 · October 28, 2021

Halfway through Halloween Week, my excitement for the day itself continues to grow. Lest we fall prey to our eagerness and rush too quickly ahead, have a look at Susan Hill and Angela Barrett’s quietly chilling Beware Beware. As her mother prepares food at the hearth, a young girl peers out of the window at the nearby woods, wondering what hides among the trees. Soon, the lure of the unknown proves too great and she slips unnoticed out the door and treads over the freshly fallen snow towards the forest. Though at first she marvels at her experience in nature, her wonder soon turns to dread as she perceives dangerous and evil creatures lurking in the shadows. She flees home to her mother’s warm embrace, but a shard of curiosity still remains. In place of a traditional narrative, Hill unfolds the plot in impressionistic verse, rhythmic lines of dimeter following the girl’s stream of consciousness. Barrett’s alluring pencil-and-watercolor art pulls us from the cozy hearth out into the dark, wild unknown before returning us safely home. #house #home #mother #daughter #girl #woods #forest #halloween #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbooks #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks