The Berenstain Bears

The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat by Stan and Jan Berenstain, 1989.

“Even little bears
expect a good fright
when they go out for treats
on Halloween night.”

Brother and Sister Bear are looking forward to trick-or-treating on Halloween night with their friends. Sister is going as a ballerina, and Brother is dressed as a monster. When Brother jumps out at Mama in his monster costume, she pretends to be frightened, and when he takes off his mask, Mama comments that “appearances can be deceiving.” Sister asks what that means, and Mama explains that “things aren’t always what they look like.”

This is the first year that Brother and Sister will be allowed to go out trick-or-treating without their parents. They plan to trick-or-treat with friends, and they talk about the houses that they plan to visit. The one house in the neighborhood that they don’t want to visit belongs to Miz McGrizz. Miz McGrizz’s house looks spooky, and the kids think that she might be a witch. Mama tells them that’s nonsense and that Miz McGrizz is a nice person.

As the young bears set out to trick-or-treat with their friends, some of the bigger, tougher cubs in the neighborhood try to talk them into joining them in some pranks. First, they want to decorate Miz McGrizz’s house with toilet paper.

However, before the cubs can do anything, Miz McGrizz comes out of her house, and seeing the cubs, tells them that she’s ready for them. Although the kids are frightened at first, it turns out that Mama really was correct about Miz McGrizz. Miz McGrizz is just a nice old lady who has a special treat for the cubs who are brave enough to visit her house.

In real life, trick-or-treaters shouldn’t go into the houses of people they visit unless they know them very well, but in this case, it’s not so bad because the cubs’ mother approves of Miz McGrizz and would be fine with the children visiting her.

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive (multiple copies).