Spot loves Halloween, and tonight is the party. Everyone is in costume, which for a lift-the-flap book is a perfect trick: behind every flap somebody is hiding, and half the fun is working out who is under the pumpkin, the ghost sheet and the bat wings before the flap comes up.

Eric Hill's little yellow puppy has been teaching toddlers how books work since Where's Spot?, and this Halloween outing keeps the same bold shapes, clean pages and gentle humor. The spooky things all turn out friendly, which makes it a first Halloween book a two-year-old can enjoy without a single real fright.

Eighteen sturdy board pages with flaps built for small, determined fingers. Drop it in a trick-or-treat basket for the sibling too small for candy, or read it every October night until the costumes finally go on.