It’s almost Halloween, that special night when wee ghosts, goblins and witches roam the streets collecting sweets. What’s your favorite? Snickers, Twix, Kit-Kats? Well, much as we love chocolate, the furry Alphabet Soup kitchen helpers and I agree there’s no finer treat than a brand new Paddington picture book. 🙂

In Paddington’s Trick or Treat by Michael Bond and R.W. Alley (HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2024), our beloved bear from darkest Peru is super excited about his very first Halloween party. There’s just one problem: an uninvited guest is spoiling all the fun. Can Paddington trick him into leaving?

It all started Halloween morning, when Paddington came downstairs to breakfast carrying Mrs Bird’s best broom and wearing a trash bag draped over his duffle coat. He was working on his costume, since Jonathan and Judy had promised to take him trick-or-treating. Judy suggested they have a party afterwards, to which Paddington heartily agreed, as he’d never been to a Halloween party before.

After some convincing, Mr Brown okayed a small family-only celebration. So Paddington popped off to the market for pumpkins and baking supplies, while Jonathan and Judy worked on their costumes and party decorations.

When he got back, Paddington helped Mrs Bird bake “squashed-fly” (Garibaldi) biscuits, since he couldn’t find any at the market, while Mrs Brown hollowed out pumpkins for lanterns.

Later that afternoon, Paddington passed the time writing Halloween poems until it got dark. Finally, it was time to go trick-or-treating! In his cape, pointed hat, and frayed-rope wig, Paddington made a very convincing witch. The finishing touch was a set of fangs Judy had fashioned from an orange peel turned inside out. Spooky!

They had great fun trick-or-treating; Paddington got so many treats he could hardly carry them. Best head home — but before doing so, Paddington wanted to call on their grumpy neighbor Mr Curry despite Jonathan and Judy’s objections. Paddington disguised his voice while reading his poem, but Mr Curry recognized him. That’s when our well-meaning bear accidentally let slip that they were having a party.

Sly Mr Curry followed them home. He sat in Mr Brown’s favorite chair and helped himself to chocolates. Much to everyone’s dismay, it looked like Mr Curry would be there for the entire evening. He even recited a poem asking for more food.

Mrs Bird was not pleased.

But leave it to Paddington to save the day. Ever so politely, he offered Mr Curry some Garibaldi biscuits. When Mr Curry learned they contained “squashed flies,” he was aghast at eating dead insects, and was soon out the door. Imagine him thinking the biscuits contained real flies instead of currants. Hooray for Paddington’s quick thinking!

The Browns then enjoyed the rest of the party with Mrs Bird’s delicious pumpkin soup, Garibaldis (of course), and several games. Paddington decided to send most of his chocolates to Aunt Lucy, then headed up to his room with his lantern. It had been such a nice Halloween that he wanted to savor every last moment of it!

It’s wonderful that new R.W. Alley-illustrated Paddington picture books are still being published despite Michael Bond’s passing in 2017. This particular story is based on “Paddington Takes the Biscuit,” from Bond’s 2008 novel, Paddington Here and Now, and is a nice companion book to Paddington’s Easter Egg Hunt (2022).

Once again, Alley does not disappoint with his ebullient, highly detailed and emotive pen and ink and watercolor art. Readers will easily get swept up in all the anticipation and excitement of trick-or-treat and party preparations.

I love how Alley’s visual narrative complements and extends Bond’s story, providing a rich context for all the action and injecting energy into every scene. There’s a lot going on in each of the spreads, much that kids can relate to and learn from. What are each of the Browns eating for breakfast? What kind of costumes are Jonathan and Judy making? Look at how great the house looks festooned with little ghosts, giant spiders, bats and oh-so-British bunting!

Best of all, readers will love poring over all the Halloween costumes Windsor Gardens trick-or-treaters are wearing (clowns, kitties, owls, bats, robots, even a shark!). Alley pulls us right into the story by bringing each character to vivid life with spot-on facial expressions and body language. The looks of consternation as the Browns give Mr Curry the side eye! The bright enthusiasm of Jonathan, Judy, Mrs Bird and Mrs Brown as they cajole Mr Brown into having a party!

And of course, I especially enjoy following Paddington from spread to spread: so intent as he reads the biscuit recipe, sweetly contemplative as he writes poems (his little tongue out in concentration), charmingly innocent as he offers Mr Curry biscuits, wandering off in the wrong direction for “Pin the Eye on the Monster.” Endearing, amusing, endlessly lovable.

Paddington’s Trick or Treat serves up a generous helping of family fun, holiday bustle, and bear-friendly hijinks. Sometimes a few “flies” can prove to be just the trick. I think I’ll have another Twix.

Meanwhile, please look after this book. Thank you.

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🎃 ABOUT THOSE BISCUITS 🎃

Prior to reading this book, I had never heard of Garibaldi or squashed-fly biscuits. Hard to fathom, as I am a Cookie Monster of the most enthusiastic sort.

Anyway, I’ve since learned that we had a version of Garibaldis in America, only we called them Golden Fruit, and they were made by the Sunshine Biscuit Company. I used to LOVE them. Golden Fruit had raisins instead of currants sandwiched between the biscuits. As I recall, the cookies were squares instead of rectangles once you broke off a piece (the fun part).

When Keebler bought out the SBC, they continued making Golden Fruit cookies using different fruit fillings for a while before discontinuing them completely. 😦

Garibaldis are still widely available in the UK, produced by such brands as Crawford’s, M&S, and Tesco. The 70-something Paddingtons and I were happy to taste test the Crawford’s ones: the biscuit was a bit crumblier than what I remembered and there was less fruit filling. Makes sense — raisins are bigger and juicier than currants. Still, lovely with a cup of tea! 🙂

Anyway, if Mr Curry happens to invite himself over to our house, we now know what to serve him! Thanks, Paddington! 😀

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PADDINGTON’S TRICK OR TREAT
written by Michael Bond
illustrated by R.W. Alley
published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, August 2024
Picture Book for ages 4-8, 32 pp.

🧡 Enjoy this audio sample read by Jim Broadbent:

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👻 HAVE A SPOOKTACULAR HALLOWEEN! 🐻

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*Interior spreads text copyright © 2008, © 2024 The Estate of Michael Bond, illustrations © 2024 R.W. Alley, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books. All rights reserved.

**Copyright © 2024 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.