Poultrygeist by Mary Jane Auch and Herm AuchPoultrygeist
By Mary Jane Auch and Herm Auch

Rudy and Ralph are two roosters that live on the farm and who are the best of friends. Their noisy competitions and fights however, in conjunction with the rest of the noise stirred up by the other farm animals, grates on the nerves of Sophie the pig and Clarissa the cow. With Halloween fast approaching, the animals are getting ready for the annual Halloween Poultry Parade. That night, as everyone is in the barn getting their costumes ready, a tall and ghostly figure rises up at the back of the barn startling everyone. Within seconds all of the animals have fled the barn with Clarissa and Sophie bringing up the rear.

Once the animals are safely outside the barn Clarissa and Sophie explain that the ghostly figure they just saw was none other than the legendary Poultrygeist. The Poultrygeist had been sleeping for over a hundred years but apparently the animals’ ruckus has disturbed its slumber. The animals are understandably subdued after this announcement and spend the night outside the barn.

The book is intended for preschool through first grade readers, recommended ages are 4 through 8, so as you can imagine, the more mature readers will not find the mystery behind the “poultrygeist” very hard to figure out. Children however will definitely find the book amusing though and enjoy the unveiling of the poultrygeist, not to mention Sophie’s final method of silencing a pair of squabbling roosters.

Poultrygeist is also beautifully illustrated with lots of detail devoted to the characters and scenery equally. All of which, as the authors point out, was done in Adobe Photoshop. Definitely a fun Halloween read for young readers and their parents to snuggle up with.

Joana’s Rating: (3 out of 5 stars)