THE HALLOWEEN TREE

Music and sound effects heighten the atmosphere of each phase of a grouchy tree's life in this Halloween holiday audiobook. Narrator Nick Podehl's voice is friendly and comforting while delightfully playing up the grouch factor of the curmudgeonly tree on a tree farm who does not want to be a sappy Christmas tree. After the farm is incorporated into a housing development, the gnarled, twisted tree ends up on a family's lawn, where neighborhood kids pretend it's a pirate ship, a spaceship, and a dragon, each depicted with sound effects. Podehl also furnishes different voices for cheerful human and tree companions that provide humorous contrast to the grumpy tree. Upbeat music adds to the satisfaction of the tree's happy ending as a festive Halloween tree. S.C. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2019]