What do you think?
Rate this book
Lola Levine #6
Lola Levine and the Halloween Scream
Lola Levine is ready to celebrate her favorite holiday in the sixth book in this charming chapter book series by acclaimed author Monica Brown.
It's Halloween--Lola and Ben's favorite holiday. She loves pumpkins, scary costumes, monsters, and ghosts--and she likes to scare people, too. But when Lola plays a scary joke on her super best friends, Josh Blot and Bella Benitez, it doesn't go as planned.
Can Lola learn from her mistake and still have a happy Halloween?
It's Halloween--Lola and Ben's favorite holiday. She loves pumpkins, scary costumes, monsters, and ghosts--and she likes to scare people, too. But when Lola plays a scary joke on her super best friends, Josh Blot and Bella Benitez, it doesn't go as planned.
Can Lola learn from her mistake and still have a happy Halloween?
96 pages, Hardcover
Published July 3, 2017
9 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
Monica Brown
85 books119 followersMonica Brown, Ph.D. is the author of awardwinning bilingual books for children, including My Name Is Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz/Me llamo Celia: La vida de Celia Cruz (Luna Rising), a recipient of the Américas Award for Children's Literature and a Pura Belpré Honor. Her second picture book, My Name Is Gabriela: The Life of Gabriela Mistral/Me llamo Gabriela: La vida de Gabriela Mistral (Luna Rising) shares the story of the first Latina to win a Nobel Prize.
Monica's books are inspired by her Peruvian-American heritage and desire to share Latino/a stories with children. "I write from a place of deep passion, joy, and commitment to producing the highest possible quality of literature for children. In my biographies, the lives of my subjects are so interesting and transformational that I am simply giving them voice for a young audience. I don't think it is ever too early to introduce children to the concepts of magical realism, social justice, and dreaming big!"
Her other books include Chavela and the Magic Bubble (Clarion), Pelé, King of Soccer/Pelé, el rey del fútbol (Rayo/HarperCollins), My Name is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel Garcia Márquez/Me llamo Gabito: La vida de Gabriel Garcia Márquez (Luna Rising), and the forthcoming Side by Side: The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez/Lado a lado, La Historia de Dolores Huerta y César Chávez (Rayo/HarperCollins).
Monica Brown is a Professor of English at Northern Arizona University, specializing in U.S. Latino Literature and Multicultural Literature. She also writes and publishes scholarly work with a Latino/a focus, including Gang Nation: Delinquent Citizenship in Puerto Rican and Chicano and Chicana Literature; and numerous scholarly articles and chapters on Latino/a literature and cultural studies. She is a recipient of the prestigious Rockefeller Fellowship on Chicano Cultural Literacies from the Center for Chicano Studies at the University of California. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Flagstaff, Arizona.
To hear Monica Brown on Arizona NPR radio, click here or here. Find out what Monica Brown has to say about children's books and literacy here and here.
Monica's books are inspired by her Peruvian-American heritage and desire to share Latino/a stories with children. "I write from a place of deep passion, joy, and commitment to producing the highest possible quality of literature for children. In my biographies, the lives of my subjects are so interesting and transformational that I am simply giving them voice for a young audience. I don't think it is ever too early to introduce children to the concepts of magical realism, social justice, and dreaming big!"
Her other books include Chavela and the Magic Bubble (Clarion), Pelé, King of Soccer/Pelé, el rey del fútbol (Rayo/HarperCollins), My Name is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel Garcia Márquez/Me llamo Gabito: La vida de Gabriel Garcia Márquez (Luna Rising), and the forthcoming Side by Side: The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez/Lado a lado, La Historia de Dolores Huerta y César Chávez (Rayo/HarperCollins).
Monica Brown is a Professor of English at Northern Arizona University, specializing in U.S. Latino Literature and Multicultural Literature. She also writes and publishes scholarly work with a Latino/a focus, including Gang Nation: Delinquent Citizenship in Puerto Rican and Chicano and Chicana Literature; and numerous scholarly articles and chapters on Latino/a literature and cultural studies. She is a recipient of the prestigious Rockefeller Fellowship on Chicano Cultural Literacies from the Center for Chicano Studies at the University of California. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Flagstaff, Arizona.
To hear Monica Brown on Arizona NPR radio, click here or here. Find out what Monica Brown has to say about children's books and literacy here and here.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 25, 2017
This is the 6th Lola Levine book (and my first), so fans already know all about her, but others new to the series may not. Indulge me while I introduce Lola. Lola is multiracial - her father is Jewish and her mother is a Peruvian Catholic. She has a younger brother named Ben, and her best friend is Josh Blot, the principal’s son. Lola and Josh are in second grade, and their teacher is named Ms. Garcia. Lola also keeps a diary - Dear Diario - with entries scattered throughout her stories.
In this book, it’s Halloween week and Lola couldn’t be more excited. She loves being scared and scaring other kids, especially her brother Ben. In school it’s a week of autumn fun. First, Ms. Garcia introduces the ways different cultures around the world celebrate autumn. Then, Lola’s class goes on a leaf gathering trip and everyone makes a leaf book with their findings.
In the middle of the week, there is a trip to an apple orchard where kids get to pick their own apples. While there, the class learns about scarecrows, and Lola thinks maybe that is what she will be for Halloween. After all, she has been really wanting to wear a scary costume, but then, to Lola’s amazement, her friend Bella tells her she doesn’t like being scared by anything.
Lola really doesn’t understand Bella’s feelings, but she is getting more and more excited about the costume parade on Friday now that she knows what she wants to be. It’s a great parade, especially since leashed pets can be part of it. Afterwards, on Friday afternoon, sad that Halloweek is over in school, but looking forward to trick-or-treating on Sunday with Josh and Bella, Lola decides to surprise them with a scary joke as they leave school. But when the joke backfires, Lola learns an important lesson about listening to and respecting what her friend told her about not liking to be scared. Now, can Lola fix her mistake in time to still go trick-or-treating with Josh and Bella? Or will they still be mad at her? Can Lola come up with a way to tell them she's sorry?
This is a nice chapter book and a great addition for fans of series books like Ivy and Bean or Junie B. Jones. Lola is a well-meaning 7 year old, but still has a few things to learn (as do all these young protagonists). The problems they have or the situations they find themselves in, like learning to respect the feelings of other kids, are so relatable to that age group when excitement and enthusiasm can lead to some pretty keyed-up behavior and a few mistakes.
Maybe this is a spoiler:
Lola’s parents are great - they’re understand and really there for Lola and Ben, involved in their children’s lives at home and at school. But when they take most of Lola and Ben’s Halloween candy, then hide it and sneak eat it - that just wasn’t right. When they caught, the candy was all thrown away. Why couldn’t they put it away, and take some out on special occasions to enjoy as a family?
If you want to learn more about Lola and her friends and family, an Educator’s Guide chock full of learning activities is available from the publisher, Little, Brown. It only covers the first two Lola Levine books, but can easily be tweaked for any book in the series.
This book is recommended for readers age 6+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
In this book, it’s Halloween week and Lola couldn’t be more excited. She loves being scared and scaring other kids, especially her brother Ben. In school it’s a week of autumn fun. First, Ms. Garcia introduces the ways different cultures around the world celebrate autumn. Then, Lola’s class goes on a leaf gathering trip and everyone makes a leaf book with their findings.
In the middle of the week, there is a trip to an apple orchard where kids get to pick their own apples. While there, the class learns about scarecrows, and Lola thinks maybe that is what she will be for Halloween. After all, she has been really wanting to wear a scary costume, but then, to Lola’s amazement, her friend Bella tells her she doesn’t like being scared by anything.
Lola really doesn’t understand Bella’s feelings, but she is getting more and more excited about the costume parade on Friday now that she knows what she wants to be. It’s a great parade, especially since leashed pets can be part of it. Afterwards, on Friday afternoon, sad that Halloweek is over in school, but looking forward to trick-or-treating on Sunday with Josh and Bella, Lola decides to surprise them with a scary joke as they leave school. But when the joke backfires, Lola learns an important lesson about listening to and respecting what her friend told her about not liking to be scared. Now, can Lola fix her mistake in time to still go trick-or-treating with Josh and Bella? Or will they still be mad at her? Can Lola come up with a way to tell them she's sorry?
This is a nice chapter book and a great addition for fans of series books like Ivy and Bean or Junie B. Jones. Lola is a well-meaning 7 year old, but still has a few things to learn (as do all these young protagonists). The problems they have or the situations they find themselves in, like learning to respect the feelings of other kids, are so relatable to that age group when excitement and enthusiasm can lead to some pretty keyed-up behavior and a few mistakes.
Maybe this is a spoiler:
Lola’s parents are great - they’re understand and really there for Lola and Ben, involved in their children’s lives at home and at school. But when they take most of Lola and Ben’s Halloween candy, then hide it and sneak eat it - that just wasn’t right. When they caught, the candy was all thrown away. Why couldn’t they put it away, and take some out on special occasions to enjoy as a family?
If you want to learn more about Lola and her friends and family, an Educator’s Guide chock full of learning activities is available from the publisher, Little, Brown. It only covers the first two Lola Levine books, but can easily be tweaked for any book in the series.
This book is recommended for readers age 6+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
Read
September 30, 2022Fine but not great.
March 12, 2024
Lola Levine and the Halloween scream is the 6th book of the Levine series by Monica Brown. Monica Brown is an award winning author. Many of her books are multicultural and I have read some of them to my classroom. This series can be found in your local libraries as well as Amazon for purchase. There are Spanish editions too.
I recommend this book for 3rd grade and up. It is a short book and won’t take long for students to read. I also like how the illustrator, Angela Dominguez captured important moments of the narrated story. It gave me an idea of how the characters looked and did.
The series wraps up with Lola and her brother Ben’s favorite Holiday. They both love Halloween just like any kids who celebrate it. They both love pumpkin carvings and are looking forward to it. Lola loves to scare people and does it to her best friends where she ends up regretting it because they got upset. This story teaches Lola the value of friendships, listening and respecting each other's decisions. I really liked how in the reading there are letters that Lola is writing in her Diary. It creates a better understanding of how the character thinks and feels.
I would teach this book to teach about friendships and respecting boundaries in friendships. I think it is important to teach students that we should always think of ourselves as well as others.
I recommend this book for 3rd grade and up. It is a short book and won’t take long for students to read. I also like how the illustrator, Angela Dominguez captured important moments of the narrated story. It gave me an idea of how the characters looked and did.
The series wraps up with Lola and her brother Ben’s favorite Holiday. They both love Halloween just like any kids who celebrate it. They both love pumpkin carvings and are looking forward to it. Lola loves to scare people and does it to her best friends where she ends up regretting it because they got upset. This story teaches Lola the value of friendships, listening and respecting each other's decisions. I really liked how in the reading there are letters that Lola is writing in her Diary. It creates a better understanding of how the character thinks and feels.
I would teach this book to teach about friendships and respecting boundaries in friendships. I think it is important to teach students that we should always think of ourselves as well as others.
July 28, 2018
Lola Levine are not my favorite children’s books, but they are well worth reading.
Brown has done an amazing job creating a young girl that many could relate to. But Lola may be different from many who read he book; She shares her Jewish and Peruvian heritage through language, food, family, and adventure.
I fully support more diverse children’s literature and this Lola Levine fits the bill.
My daughter (also Lola) loves Lola and identifies with her daily struggles: an annoying sibling, fights with friends, learning to her along even if you don’t agree. Of the books, this is her favorite and took away a lot from lessons Lola learns in this book.
Added bonus: the illustrations! We are big fans of Dominguez.
Brown has done an amazing job creating a young girl that many could relate to. But Lola may be different from many who read he book; She shares her Jewish and Peruvian heritage through language, food, family, and adventure.
I fully support more diverse children’s literature and this Lola Levine fits the bill.
My daughter (also Lola) loves Lola and identifies with her daily struggles: an annoying sibling, fights with friends, learning to her along even if you don’t agree. Of the books, this is her favorite and took away a lot from lessons Lola learns in this book.
Added bonus: the illustrations! We are big fans of Dominguez.
Read
April 3, 2018In this OK book Lola Levine by Monica brown Lola can't wait for Halloween because that is one her favorite holiday. Before hallowed Lola has other exciting thing in her school like her fall festive and dressing up as one of her favorite charter and her filed trip that she has. After her filed trip she had a plan on scaring her friends Josh and Bella but after scary them Josh drop hes pumpkin. They got mad at her and did not talk to To lola for the rest of the day. Will her friends be her friend again?
January 24, 2018
I did not like this book because it was too short. One thing the author did well was choose a good illustrator. My favorite part was when Ben dressed up like a sheep and put cotton balls all over himself. My favorite character was Ben because he is funny I would not recommend this book because it did not have that many pictures. I would recommend this book if you like books that are short.
Read
April 3, 2018In this amazing book Lola Levine and the Halloween Scream, by:Monica Brown, illustrated by: Angela Dominguez. The book is mainly about that Lola Levine gets ready for Halloween and then she thinks that her friend is mad at her but then her friend comes to her house and tells her that she is not mad at her. What kind of costume do you think Lola Levine wore ?
June 29, 2018
Sometimes I miss grade school...and then I remember how old I am and am glad I am no longer that young.
February 25, 2019
This is sadly the last book in the Lola Levine series. The title pretty much explains the idea of the plot of this book.
November 11, 2022
3.5-4 stars. This is the first Lola Levine story I’ve read, which I put on hold for Halloween, and I appreciate the diversity of the character (based off of the author herself). As a youth services librarian, I can imagine myself (since I’ve read just this one of the series) easily recommending this series to kids and parents instead of Junie B. Jones because it has the naïveté and learning of a second grader without the whining of Junie (and outdated content).
I really liked the author’s subtle inclusion of practices for mental health and relationships: i.e. I think I’m going to go wake up Mom, because some worries are too big for just one person” and Lola’s mom reminding her that no one’s perfect, and the most important thing is to keep trying to be our best selves, making amends where needed, respecting others’ wishes and changing our actions accordingly.
My only kvetch with this book is the last chapter: “Strong Bodies.” It talks about the kids trading in their leftover candy for something they might want (shinguards, a joke book) which feels like a more recent practice that is becoming more common among families. The kids find out that their parents saved some of the candy for themselves (ok, what parent doesn’t 😅), and I assumed that the traded candy would be kept for the parents, a general family stash or used somewhere else (say, the front desk at Lola’s mom’s work, etc.). However, the trade was for the candy to be thrown out…so then Lola and Ben “march” their parents to the trash can and watch them throw out the rest of the candy. Lola’s mom thanks her for reminding her that it’s important to take care of her body and Lola exclaims “Strong bodies!” The whole chapter seemed unnecessary and out of place (the previous chapter ended perfectly), encourages waste (I know the candy wrappers would still go in the trash, but come on…) and is also borderline shame-y. You can take care of your body, be strong and still enjoy some candy. Ok, end rant 😂
Otherwise, I quite like the character of Lola Levine and her family. Would certainly recommend!
I really liked the author’s subtle inclusion of practices for mental health and relationships: i.e. I think I’m going to go wake up Mom, because some worries are too big for just one person” and Lola’s mom reminding her that no one’s perfect, and the most important thing is to keep trying to be our best selves, making amends where needed, respecting others’ wishes and changing our actions accordingly.
My only kvetch with this book is the last chapter: “Strong Bodies.” It talks about the kids trading in their leftover candy for something they might want (shinguards, a joke book) which feels like a more recent practice that is becoming more common among families. The kids find out that their parents saved some of the candy for themselves (ok, what parent doesn’t 😅), and I assumed that the traded candy would be kept for the parents, a general family stash or used somewhere else (say, the front desk at Lola’s mom’s work, etc.). However, the trade was for the candy to be thrown out…so then Lola and Ben “march” their parents to the trash can and watch them throw out the rest of the candy. Lola’s mom thanks her for reminding her that it’s important to take care of her body and Lola exclaims “Strong bodies!” The whole chapter seemed unnecessary and out of place (the previous chapter ended perfectly), encourages waste (I know the candy wrappers would still go in the trash, but come on…) and is also borderline shame-y. You can take care of your body, be strong and still enjoy some candy. Ok, end rant 😂
Otherwise, I quite like the character of Lola Levine and her family. Would certainly recommend!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 6, 2021
Halloween was coming up and they were allowed to wear their costumes to school, and Lola wanted to dress up as a zombie. Her brother Ben wanted to dress up as a llama. Lola decided to change her outfit into Bean, her dog, and have Bean dress up as her wearing her orange soccer shirt. A few days before the Halloween party, Lola hid behind a tree and scared her friends. Her friend Josh dropped the pumpkin he was carrying because she scared him. He was mad and sad. So Lola went to the store and got pumpkins for Josh and Bella to say sorry even though Bella didn't drop her pumpkin. So they all went trick or treating together.
August 15, 2021
Cute. Good story with good lessons. Nice illustrations and good pace for our family.
October 10, 2025
my review
I did not like when she scared Josh and Bella. I liked when they got to bring the pets to school for the fall festival. -Max (7)
I did not like when she scared Josh and Bella. I liked when they got to bring the pets to school for the fall festival. -Max (7)
Read
October 24, 2017Finished 10/23/17
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews