The Halloween Tree

Rating:
Summary: A Lyrical Journey.
Review: This is not Bradbury's best book, but it shows exactly how strong Bradbury's controll of language is. What makes his language even more powerful is that every sentence, every word, is absolutely given to the story, merging with the strange and wonderous scenes that fill Bradbury's tribute to Halloween. If you like this book you'll love Something Wicked This Way Comes. (Hey parents, want to give your kids a love of reading, read to them from this book when they are young and give them copies of Something Wicked, Martian Chronicles, and Fahrenheit 451 when they are older).

Rating:
Summary: Two stories in one book
Review: This is the perfect Bradbury book to introduce him to "tweener" children. It is the story about a group of friends that has one of them suddenly fall sick and is dying. Death shows up and offers a deal to the healthy ones for the life of their friend. That is one part of the story. The other is that Death takes the boys on a trip through time to show how other cultures have celebrated "Halloween" or other of the same type of holidays. It is a joyous romp through the book and actually celebrates life with a serious subject. The deal that Death cuts with the boys is also a great way to discuss with your child what is important about friendship and life. Great book for both adults and "tweeners".

Rating:
Summary: Two stories in one book
Review: This is the perfect Bradbury book to introduce him to "tweener" children. It is the story about a group of friends that has one of them suddenly fall sick and is dying. Death shows up and offers a deal to the healthy ones for the life of their friend. That is one part of the story. The other is that Death takes the boys on a trip through time to show how other cultures have celebrated "Halloween" or other of the same type of holidays. It is a joyous romp through the book and actually celebrates life with a serious subject. The deal that Death cuts with the boys is also a great way to discuss with your child what is important about friendship and life. Great book for both adults and "tweeners".

Rating:
Summary: A Near Perfect Halloween Tale, a True Treat for Any Age!
Review: This story of eight Halloween costumed lads and their journey through land and time in search of a friend is perfect for the holiday, as it not only entertains but educates as well. Whether it be Celtic customs of old or a skull shaped cookie in Mexico for Dia de Los Muertes through this tale young readers can understand that Halloween is not, nor has it always been, just celebrated with candy and masks. Bradbury allows for the overshadowing of death to linger but not suffocate (which would scare children) and so doing correlates the celebration of the harvest with the end of life. He then deftly clarifies that this celebration of the end of life reaffirms the prospect of living itself, and that there is nothing demonic in that. I would recommend this for more intermediate readers (8-12) as many of the ideas and descriptions would quite possible be too much for a child younger than that. But whether you're 8 or 80 this tale will intrigue and entertain. Nearly perfect. So wait 'til the leaves start to turn, settle down with a nice mug of hot cider by a roaring fire, and allow Mr. Bradbury to take you to The Halloween Tree.

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Little Story..
Review: True this is is a kid's book but I was highly pleased by it. It was an honest and indepth look at life and death; using how people celebrated and look at death from all different centuries and customs. But also too, it celebrated friendship. The group of boys were willing to do what they could for their dying friend. So this book maybe a children's book but it deals with topics that all people of any age can relate to.

Also, I really want to commend the language used. It is poetic with a big wallop of nostalgia, which this being the second Bradbury book I've read, I think is hallmark. It really captured the innocence of Halloween night to a group of boys and also captured other things as well.

It's a wonderful little story, like the subject line said.

Rating:
Summary: More than just a kid's book
Review: You might want to dismiss this as one of Bradbury's lesser works because of the simplistic plot and writing style but that would be a mistake. What we have here is one of his most important books and one of his best. Taking cues from Dickens, Bradbury writes a timeless tale of Halloween that isn't carried along by dovetailing plottwists or dense knotted prose but simply a quest to save someone and the boundless exuburance of children. I literally finished this while waiting for a class to start and when I had a few pages left and class started I sat there and finished the book. Once you start reading it you can't stop, the momentum of is one of constant motion. And it's not a kids book, sure the themes of innocence are there but also are the more serious topics of death and darkness, as seen through the filters of a child. For all it's length it's a perfect book for the most part and one that deserves to be read every year together with a bunch of people. On Halloween of course