On the front cover, Mama sits at a distance from the jack-o'-lantern. As Anya tells us, Mama "wanted no part of this holiday." She doesn't seem to want to interact with the jack-o-lantern or what it represents. On the back cover, Mama peeks into the pumpkin, curious, because after taking her children trick-or-treating, she said, "'Now I know this Halloween,' and sighed with pleasure."

The matroyshka, or Russian nesting doll, represents the family's birthplace and former home, Russia. The funny jack-o-lantern man is a symbol for the United States. Can you find all the times these symbols appear in Shy Mama's Halloween?

Anya is just learning English as her second language. We can tell this by phrases such as "went on the trick-or-treat," "take us on the trick-or- treat" and "do the trick-or-treat" because most native English-speaking American children would instead say, "go trick-or-treating." Anya's language is often formal, such as "I was not sure how I felt seeing my little sister as a wicked enchantress" or "He would have polka-dot pajamas this night."

First, we read that when Dasha got tired of her royal robe's weight, "Mama slung it around her shoulders." Next, Anya hands Mama her pitchfork when she picks up her brother, then hands Mama Dimitrii's red clown wig. Last, we see a picture where Irina gives Mama her witch's hat. As the family walks back to their apartment, we see Mama's back but may not pay much attention to what she is wearing because there are so many other details in the picture. It is not until we see Mama's face reflected in the mirror that we understand how she looks in her children's Halloween costumes.

Many children today buy costumes already made. In the time of the story, costumes were homemade and more simple. As now, children enjoyed dressing up as superheroes, as well as fairy tale or folk tale characters. In the book, we see the following costumes that might still be seen on a typical Halloween today: witch, devil, clown, princess, Robin Hood, skeleton, angel, Superman, Red Riding Hood, pirate, ghost. Captain Marvel (who is looking at Superman on a two page picture spread) is less known today. Materials for costumes have changed; Dasha's nose is papier-mache because plastic was not widely used then.