- Graphic Novels
- Ages 5–8
- Comedy
Pizza and Taco: Dare to Be Scared!
Book 6 of 11 in Pizza and TacoView the full series
A gentle spooky-comedy entry where Pizza and Taco try to scare each other without things ever becoming genuinely frightening. It is a strong pick for young readers who like Halloween-ish silliness but need low peril.
- Best for5–8
- FormatGraphic
- Length72 pp
- Read aloud~34 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Conversational
- Comedic
Tone
- Funny
- Silly
- Warm
- Irreverent
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Pizza and Taco are ready for some scary fun. They want thrills, chills and maybe a few jumpy surprises, but because this is Pizza and Taco, the scares are really just another excuse for goofy friendship comedy. The pair try to be brave, spook each other and work out what is actually scary, with plenty of exaggerated reactions and silly misunderstandings along the way. Stephen Shaskan keeps the format extremely friendly for early graphic-novel readers: short chapters, clear panel flow, big expressions, speech bubbles and jokes that land quickly. Dare to Be Scared! is useful for children who enjoy spooky themes but are not ready for anything intense. It gives them ghosts-and-giggles energy without real horror, making it a good bridge between cosy early readers and slightly more adventurous comic books.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 5–8
- Read aloud · 5–8
- Independent · 5–8
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Workable
Works well for
- Bedtime
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
4 / 5 · Bedtime-friendly
Sensitive-child
4 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Gentle spooky
- First graphic novel
- Reluctant readers
- Funny food characters
- Low scare halloween
Avoid if
- Wants real horror
- Wants dense prose
- Prefers realistic children
- Wants big adventure
Particularly good for children who are…
- Reluctant reader
- Struggling with reading
- Making friends
- Nightmares or fears
- Anxiety and worry
In the classroom
How it works in school.
A snappy, silly early comic series — a confidence-builder for new and reluctant readers.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific kick is trying to be scared — Pizza and Taco daring each other into spooky territory, exaggerated reactions to nothing-particularly-scary, the safest possible thrill for a five-year-old curious about fear.
- Friendship and belonging
- Trickery and cleverness
- Surviving danger
Why parents love it
The Pizza and Taco for spooky-curious children — gentle scares, big reactions, no actual nightmare fuel. Useful Halloween-shelf pick that won't tip into proper horror. Reliable as a bridge book for nervous readers.
- Shared humour
- Quick to read
- Bedtime appropriate
In the series
Pizza and Taco.
11 books · open the series →
About the author & illustrator
Stephen Shaskan.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
Where you’ll find it
On these reading lists.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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