The Invisible Parade by Leigh Bardugo, illustrated by John Picacio (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 60 pages, grades 3-6). There’s a party planned for the evening, but Cala doesn’t want to go, since she is still grieving about her grandfather’s recent death. As the family does errands around town, illustrations show her mom giving money to a man sitting and begging, Cala bumping into a sneezing woman, and her siblings arguing. She ignores them all, feeling too sad. That night at the cemetery, Cala sees the ghosts of people who have parallels to those from earlier in the day. A skeleton on a horse is sick, another one is hungry, and a third likes to argue. They explain to her that helping sick people can lead to a caring heart, witnessing hunger can make you grateful, and fighting can provide a chance to forgive. A fourth rider, Death, shows Cala the ancestors, including her grandfather, who are still with her. By the end, Cala is no longer afraid of hunger, sickness, anger, or death, and is ready to join the party. Includes notes from the author and the illustrator.

This collaboration between a best-selling YA author and a Hugo Award winning illustrator offers a dark fairy tale perfect for Día de Muertos. The story will get readers thinking about their fears and the good that can happen when they face them, as well as how to handle grief. The illustrations will be loved by anyone who appreciates all things spooky. I saw this recommended for ages 4-8, but I think older kids would get more out of the tale and be less likely to be frightened by the pictures.

Greta Ever After by Melissa Dassori (Christy Ottaviano Books, 304 pages, grades 4-7). Greta has high hopes as well as high anxiety as seventh grade begins. Her best friends are excelling at sports, student government, and acting, and she wants to show everyone she can be a star journalist. A magical cuckoo clock she receives for her twelfth birthday has a wooden dancer girl who comes to life for Greta, introducing herself as Lulu and offering Greta the chance to escape life by entering the clock with her. Greta is tempted, especially when she finds herself struggling to come up with good news stories to write about. In desperation, she starts to secretly create situations around school that she can report on. Before long, she’s getting the praise she was seeking for her writing, but knows that she’s compromised her journalistic integrity. As the deadline to join Lulu closes in, Greta must decide whether she wants to escape from life or stick with getting through the tough times.

This was a fun mix of realistic middle school story and fairy tale magic, with a performance of Into the Woods allowing Greta and her friends to enter into a different sort of fairy world. I guess maybe I’m not up on my journalistic ethics, but I thought some of Greta’s ideas for creating news were pretty cool, and that the reactions when her family, teachers, and friends found about them were a bit overblown. Greta is a relatable character, flaws and all, and readers will connect with her dilemmas.

Hansel and Gretel by Stephen King, illustrated by Maurice Sendak (HarperCollins, 48 pages, all ages). The classic fairy tale is retold by horror legend Stephen King and illustrated using set and costume designed by the equally legendary Maurice Sendak for a 1997 production of the opera Hansel and Gretel.  Side note: the opera was composed by Engelbert Humperdinck, whom I remember as a singer from the 60’s and 70’s. I learned that the pop singer took his stage name from the German composer who created the opera Hansel and Gretel in 1893. The name dropping is fierce, and surely HarperCollins is counting on this to generate sales heading into the holiday season.

It’s a pretty long but engaging retelling, and the illustrations are all that you could want in a story whose candy-studded gingerbread house conceals a child-eating witch. In his introduction, King describes much of Sendak’s work as “sunny exterior, dark in the center…or sometimes vice versa,” and his story pays homage to this sensibility. I usually steer clear of books with celebrity authors, but in this case, I think it’s worth a look and most likely, a purchase.