An adorable story perfect for Halloween. Cocoa is grumpy. He is not a big fan of Halloween. He follows his friend Kitty as they search for the perfect treat, along the way they discover many fun and exciting Halloween things. Will they ever find their perfect treat?
We loved this book. It was so fun to read. Lots of humor that kept us smiling. The story is interactive like turning the book around in a circle to help Cocoa Roll over. The easy flowing text and beautiful colorful illustrations help create this fun, creative story.
Enjoy this exciting adventure with your little ones and don't forget to avoid the tricks.

BLUF: super cute, wonderfully interactive, and sure to be a winner with the under 5 crowd! Cocoa and Kitty will melt your heart!

Overall: 5
Lesson: 4
Illustrations: 5

Suggested Ages:
To Read To: 5 & under

Mom's Review:
(Pending)

"A's" Review
(Pending)

"C's" Review
"I love Halloween and I love puppies so this is the best book ever! Even though Cocoa is grumpy, cocoa doesn't quit! And that's what I'm supposed to do to."

Dad's Review
(Pending)

(Full Traveling Book Family reviews to come!)

Thank you so so much to author Thomas Nelson of Tommy Press for the opportunity to read and review this really sweet short story

All reviews are our own.

Many thanks to Tommy Nelson and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

This is a delightful story about Cocoa’s Halloween adventure, designed to be highly interactive for young children. The book invites little readers to engage through a variety of fun activities—counting, matching, and more. They’ll especially enjoy turning the book upside down to see the bats and helping Cocoa roll over!

The story is sweet and completely non-scary, making it ideal for toddlers and young preschoolers. It’s perfect as a playful bedtime read or as part of a preschool classroom collection, where it could serve as a springboard for themed activities and group discussions.

A cute Halloween story with pets. The book includes many opportunities for young readers to interact with the text such as turning the book upside down. An interactive holiday read for children ages 2-4.

Cocoa's Cranky Halloween is a well-made board book with sturdy, washable pages. Ages 2-6.
The illustrations are large and colorful to get a young child's attention, and the accompanying text is written in short sentences that a young child can understand.

Some book pages have directions to choose something or perform a simple task, making those pages interactive and fun. It's a book that a child will want to hear more than once.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher; a positive review is not required. All opinions are my own.

Love this book!
I can already see this being one of my daughters favorite books! I will be pre-ordering this for sure!
This would also be so popular in my school's library for students to check out, they love interactive books like this.
5/5!

"Cocoa's Cranky Halloween" is the newest book in an interactive series about a cranky dog and how he handles holidays with their expectations and activities. Cocoa is ready to go trick-or-treating with his friend, Kitty, but he must make decisions, work past obstacles, and scheme to get the most treats throughout the night. With the help of the reader, he needs to know the correct path to take, pick out the correct costumes, and help with doing a "trick" for his treat, and then, maybe, the night won't be so bad for this grumpy puppy.

Cocoa's story has an interactive element, similar to many other books, such as "Don't Push the Button," "Press Here," and "I Say Ooh, You Say Aah," maintaining the child's interest in the story and keeping their mind and bodies active throughout the story. "Cocoa's Cranky Halloween" and the subsequent adventures in the series are appropriate for young readers, as the stories are about relatable situations and are inclusive to everyone, not just those who can read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the eArc in exchange for an honest review.

My daughters and I loved this book. It was interactive and had them practicing counting, saying words/sounds, matching etc. This kept them engaged and asking to read it again and again! The graphics are super eye catching and go beautifully with the story. I would highly encourage you to put this in your Halloween book rotation! Thank you to NetGalley and Tommy Nelson for the advanced reader copy.

This silly interactive story features a grumpy dog who is not thrilled about costumes, surprises, and chocolate.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
As stated before our 4-year old loves Halloween and cats. This story Cocoa has a Kitty friend that was her absolute hero of the story. Kitty won’t let Cocoa’s crankiness dim her positive attitude.

The interactivity made this even more fun.
You know kids book is a hit when you finish it and you are asked to read it again right away.

Recommended young kids that want Halloween themed books.

Coco is a sweet bulldog who has found many things not to like about Halloween. The noise, the people, etc. But the family kitty is going to help him find the fun. Fun is exactly what this book is. It’s a story and an activity all in one. It would be excellent for one-on-one reading or for story time.

I really liked the Halloween theme and interactive features of this book! However, I was a little confused by the ending/the last page. I feel like the wording is a bit off, and it's unclear what the relationship is between the neighbor and Cocoa and Kitty. Is the neighbor the owner? Is the neighbor just really nice? I think that altering the wording just a bit in order to make that clear would seal the story off much more nicely. That aside, though, the rest of the book was amazing! Each little activity perfectly transitioned into the next page, and the story flowed seamlessly. Lastly, I love how readers get to see Cocoa warming up to the fun of Halloween; it shows a little bit of personality and character development, which is always ideal. Bravo!

Cocoa's Cranky Halloween" by Thomas Nelson is a charming interactive tale that's perfect for Halloween story time. It explores the familiar theme of overcoming grumpiness and finding joy in community, through the eyes of Cocoa, a lovable but initially grumpy character.
The story follows Cocoa as he navigates his frustrations with Halloween preparations, but crucially, it's his friend Kitty who offers support, suggests solutions, reminds him of how much fun Halloween is. Kitty's presence highlights the importance of friendship and teamwork. The interactive nature of the book, flipping upside down, and matching makes it especially engaging for preschoolers during story time. The narrative itself engaging and the illustrations, created by Beth Hughes are vibrant, detailed, and effectively capture Cocoa's experiences and the friendly dynamic between Cocoa and Kitty. They complement the interactive elements, making it a multi-sensory experience.

I would recommend this for young readers for a great read allowed story time for Halloween.

The story of Cocoa the dog who goes trick or treating will be a delight to young readers who love halloween. This is an interactive book with questions and necessary involvement of the children listeners.

This is a great book for young toddlers (2-3) to become actively involved in the reading process. I like how it prompts the reader to engage with the story and become part of the action. Cute, funny and short - perfect for the age range the book is geared towards.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was pretty good. I could see this being a fun book for a small group of children or one-on-one because of the interactive cues on each spread. The art was cute and colorful. There wasn’t much plot, but I know the draw is the cranky dog, Cocoa, and his misadventures.

A cute fast book about Cranky Cocoa. I like the interaction on each page that gives the child something to look for , do or is a question to answer.
Even a cranky or grumpy pup can be happy with friends and love.

Cocoa books are so fun and interactive for little readers. They are silly and over the top and a great way to engage the little ones in your life.

Thank you so much to Tommy Nelson and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

A very adorable interactive book, I didn’t realise how interactive it would be but it was a lot of fun. Cocoa doesn’t like Halloween, but Kitty does and wants Cocoa to like it too, together they explore all the different features of Halloween all for treats.

I really enjoyed reading this it was very different to what I initially thought the story would be, but it was a really fun read, following Cocoa and helping him at every step of the way as he navigated the scariness of Halloween and eased his grogginess.

The illustrations were huge and the biggest part of this book, being that they were used for interactivity purposes, we had a mini maze, counting, dressing up, picking up fallen things. It was honestly really creative and so much fun. I know that young ones are just going to absolutely adore this book, there’s so much that they get to par-take in within the story and it’s got a cute story too to help Cocoa through what can be a scary holiday.

This is a very short, adorable picture book. I love the Halloween theme but the best part is how the book gives directions on how to interact with it. So fun!
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

I love a good halloween book and a good interactive book. This is a twofer. The story is cute and short, so it doesn't ask much of the audience as far as paying attention. It also prompts some active as well as basic learning such as "pick the biggest bag of candy". This will make for a great addition to any library, bookstore, or personal storytime rotation for the season.