Fifi Colston Ghoulish Get-Ups: how to create your own Halloween costumes Scholastic (NZ), 1 September 2014, 48pp., $AU22.80/$NZ19.00 (pbk), ISBN 978-1-77543-247-0
For those who love World of Wearable Arts as a festival event, this is an ideal book to start if not continue the journey, though with a more macabre tone: it’s all about ghouls and ghosts! A sequel to the author’s title Wearable Wonder which clearly is grounded on this festival, this new title may well appeal to young lads with some of the costume features being warts, guts, gore as well as alien attack. Be warned though, the author writes something of a humorous, though necessary, disclaimer in an insert at the beginning that warns children about the dangers of the pantry, Mum’s make-up bag, small items and scissors!
Initially the author identifies 14 possible costumes in terms of seven double page spreads of different themes/images associated with Halloween, Villains, Aliens, Shape Shifters, Steampunk, Celebrities, Bookish Types and Fairy Tales. Within each full page picture of a character in these contexts, there are inserts that identify, through a numerical index system, the art and craft tools and techniques that are needed to complete the image. These are found in the rest of the book where the practical tasks are substantially detailed. Certainly, as a parent, if you suffer from high blood pressure, be warned of freaky behaviour by your lovely little innocents when they take on the mantle of being ghouls and goblins, aliens and zombies! Recommended for all drama kings and queens!
reviewed by John McKenzie