The Halloween Tree

2.25 stars

Well, that was disappointing.

Let me sum up the positives:
- imaginative and original
- beautiful imagery/descriptive settings
- nice illustrations

Now the negatives:
- too fast. One minute they're in Egypt, next they're in Greece or France or Mexico. It was so rushed
- too many kids, and no character development ( I get it, it's a short story/kids book), but seriously who were these kids!? There was Tom, but what made him special
- Sorry, but why should I care that Pipkin goes missing? Would have loved a little more at the beginning to find a reason to care about the characters
- What the hell was going on? Reincarnation? Are we to believe that even stone figures have emotions and feelings?
- too short.

Overall:
This was a very imaginative story. I loved the idea of it, but was disappointed in the execution. I had to force myself to finish it. I heard there's an animated movie/tv special based on this book. I think it would work better in that format. I'm excited to watch that ( and hopeful it's better).

tldr: great idea, poor execution.