Ages 3 to 5 · By M.F. Chang

Pip and the Scary Halloween Masks

A wolf mask can look like a real wolf when you are three. In this Halloween story, big sister Hana teaches Pip a game that makes every mask a little less scary: Mask ON... Mask OFF! Still Papa!

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Pip and the Scary Halloween Masks, a square paperback picture book showing Pip in his pumpkin costume in his bedroom, Teddy wearing a little wolf mask on the bed and a wolf shadow on the wall

Every Beem Bunnies book follows Pip through one big childhood moment. Small to us. Enormous to them. This one is the night the grown-ups put on masks, and a game that helps your child find the person underneath.

Pip in his pumpkin costume looks worried, thinking about the wolf mask

Papa turned into a wolf.

Pip is all ready to be a smiling pumpkin. Then Papa Bob walks in wearing his wolf mask, and Pip's heart goes thump, thump, thump. Is that still Papa in there?

Nobody tells Pip to stop being silly. Big sister Hana shows him a game instead, and he plays it again and again, all the way down the street on Halloween night.

Mask ON. Mask OFF.

Still Papa!

The mask game at the heart of the book takes five seconds and works on any costume: a ghost at the bakery, a monster on the porch, a shadow by the bed. Lift the mask, see the face, say the name. Your child gets to check for themselves that the person underneath never changed.

Hana lifts Papa's wolf mask to show Pip, dressed as a pumpkin, that it is still Papa underneath

Look inside.

Thirty-four pages of soft, cozy pictures. Here are the first six, just the way the story opens.

The Beem Bunnies family getting ready for Halloween in their cozy living room
Tonight the Beem Bunnies were getting ready for Halloween.
Pip holds up his drawing of a smiling jack-o-lantern
Pip wanted to be a smiling pumpkin.
Mama Mimi zips Pip into his orange pumpkin costume
So Mama Mimi helped Pip into his bright orange costume and his green stem hat.
Papa Bob walks into the bedroom wearing a gray wolf mask
But then Papa Bob came in wearing his WOLF MASK.
Pip holds on to Mama's hand
Pip squeezed Mama's hand as hard as he could.
Pip looks worried, thinking about the wolf mask
Pip was SCARED that Papa had turned into a WOLF.

Why is my preschooler so scared of masks?

Many children ages 3 to 5 are still learning that a mask changes how someone looks, not who they are. So a neighbor in a wolf mask can feel like a real wolf. Pip's story gives your child a game to test it for themselves, again and again, until the answer is always the same: still you.

  • Seeing is believing. Lifting the mask lets your child check, instead of being told.
  • A game gives kids control. Three short lines they can say out loud at any door.
  • Practice at home first. A few rounds with Papa's mask before the big night.

The book has a QR code that brings grown-ups here for four free printables to go with it.

Pip hugs Papa Bob, who has pushed the wolf mask up on his head
What's inside the kit

Four little tools for one big night.

01

Mask On, Mask Off Practice Cards

A life-size wolf mask to cut out and wear, and fold-open cards from the story. Print, cut, and play.

02

Quick Tips for Mask and Costume Fears

Six small moves that help a preschooler who is scared of masks and costumes.

03

Talk-About-It Questions

A gentle question for every part of Pip's story.

04

Read-Aloud Tips for the Big Night

How to read this book in the week before Halloween, and on the night itself.

Free printables

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Pop in your name and email and the whole kit opens on the next page. We will also let you know when the next Beem Bunnies book opens.

Our guidance draws on publicly available research from sources including the American Academy of Pediatrics (healthychildren.org) and the Child Mind Institute. Beem Bunnies is not affiliated with or endorsed by either organization.