Lila and the Jack-O'-Lantern: Halloween Comes to America
by Nancy Churnin (Author) Anneli Bray (Illustrator)
STARRED REVIEW! "This delightful picture book is a must-have for elementary libraries."--School Library Journal starred review
An Irish immigrant moves to America, bringing along a now-beloved Halloween tradition.
When Lila and her family leave Ireland for the United States, Lila misses many things, but especially Halloween. Each year, she and her siblings look forward to tricking a sly spirit named Jack by carving turnips into jack-o'-lanterns and walking the streets of their small town in ghostly costumes. Now, with no turnips in sight, can she bring the spirit of the holiday to the crowded city streets of her new home?
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Publishers Weekly
Churnin introduces readers to a Halloween tradition's beginnings in this fictionalized 1850 account of an Irish family emigrating to America. The story opens with red-haired, pale-skinned Lila and her siblings voyaging to the States to escape the Potato Famine. Upon arrival, homesickness sets in, but Ma reassures: "Soon it will be Halloween. I'll bake colcannon and barmbrack." Fortuitously, the child encounters a new friend at the market, as well as pumpkins, and a gourd proves to be an ideal replacement for the turnips carved back home to scare off spirit Jack on Halloween. Bray's flatly realistic drawings center Lila in accessible domestic and metropolitan scenes, and educational prose unfolds slowly to describe the family's holiday customs, such as finding treasures in Ma's traditional fare. The result is an informational historical portrait of tradition and transition. An author's note and recipe conclude. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)
Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Kirkus
A warm story of heritage, and the anxieties and rewards around change.
Review quotes
JUV016140 - Juvenile Fiction | Historical | United States - 19th Century
JUV017030 - Juvenile Fiction | Holidays & Celebrations | Halloween
Picture books
Halloween
Jack-o-lanterns
