Zen Ghosts - Jon J. Muth
I love, love, love this series of picture books. It's true that the first ([b:Zen Shorts|140181|Zen Shorts|Jon J. Muth|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1301850228s/140181.jpg|2015914]) is the very best - or at least my personal favorite. But still, the sequels are definitely worth checking out. This third installment has a trickier 'message', but that's okay. It's okay for children's books (even picture books) to be a little challenging. This one is about duality - such an apt topic for Halloween! The author's note, in particular, is helpful and if I have one gripe I wish he'd incorporated some of that explanation into the larger narrative. Otherwise, this is a truly remarkable book - one that I will continue to think about. And the illustrations - wow. Just gorgeous.

ETA: This book gets better with every re-read.