Review by Booklist Review
Ages 5^-7. As might be expected, the house that Drac built isn't quite the same as the one built by Jack, but the rhyme winds and unwinds with the same force and structure in both their stories. In Drac's house, everything begins when a cat bites a bat, and it isn't till a group of children in Halloween costumes visits the house that everything is put to rights--from soothing "the fearsome manticore" to bandaging the bat. Hillenbrand's monsters are quite detailed, but even at their rowdiest, they aren't truly terrifying. They're more like costumed children who are grumpy and out of control. Good for a seasonal story hour. --Mary Harris Veeder
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3-A Halloween version of the familiar cumulative rhyme. Things get a little out of hand at Count Dracula's house- ``This is the mummy from days of yore/that rose from the coffin under the floor/that fell on the monster whose bloodcurdling roar/startled the fearsome manicore...'' It is only when a group of trick-or-treaters comes on the scene that all is carefully put back to rights. The darkly muted oil pastel illustrations augment the ghoulishness of the tale, with a hidden clue leading readers from one double-page spread to the next. The creatures are suitably gruesome, but because of their friendly expressions should be nonthreatening. A definite hit for holiday story programs.-Beth Irish, Orange Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
This cumulative tale borrows from the schematic structure of the popular nursery rhyme 'The House That Jack Built' to deliver a few shivers. Readers are introduced to the bat that lived in the house that Drac built, then to the cat that bit the bat, and so on, until a knock on the door brings forth a gaggle of costumed children. The oil and pastel illustrations add a zesty dollop of suspense to a familiar story line. From HORN BOOK 1995, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
