Product Description

One by one young readers meet the creatures that live in Drac’s house--a bat, a werewolf, a monster, a mummy, a zombie, and other frightful monsters. They chase, wrestle, and roar until the doorbell rings and in walks a group of fearless trick-or-treaters who know exactly what to do. Clever, repetitive text--a playful adaptation of the popular nursery rhyme about the house that Jack built--and creepy paintings are sure to make this a spooky favorite for years to come. “The skillfully executed artwork adds a zesty dollop of suspense to a familiar storyline.”--The Horn Book

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #266967 in Books
• Published on: 1995-09-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 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
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
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

Review
PreSchool-Grade 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
(School Library Journal )

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.
(Booklist -Mary Harris Veeder )

Customer Reviews

Yuck
This is one of the only books I'm willing to pay my own shipping to return it. I bought this because I liked 'Twas the Fright Before Christmas, and I liked the unique yet cute artwork of all the monsters in it and the details in the background. But this book, The House that Drac Built-- it's hard to believe it's the same artist! I have tons of picture books, and this has the ugliest artwork of them all. The manicore is gross-- a weird face and sausage-link tail. I didn't find the artwork creepy or scary in the way I'd love to see in a Halloween book for a change, but this art was just completely unappealing. I love Halloween picture books, but I highly recommend In the Haunted House and The Bones of Fred McFee, both by Eve Bunting, Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson, The Old Lady who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams, or for an edgier book, Cinderella Skeleton Robert D. San Souci all over this one.

This is a fabulous book to teach basic counting skills.
I am a student studying to be a teacher at UNL. I used The House That Drac Built for a lesson on counting. I created a felt board and allowed the children to add the characters as I read. We counted them and then took them away at the end when the children arrive at Drac's home. I found this book to be very entertaing and useful in my lesson. It served as a perfect way to integrate literature into my Math lesson If you agree with me, please respond and let me know what you think! I would love to know what you think!

Great book
My five-year-old son loves this book. The artwork is fabulous. Very unique and clever. Also a bit scary. I like that you see a hint of the monster to come on each page. In the end, the trick-or-treating children help the monsters, thereby showing that the monsters are not as frightening as they originally appeared. We originally borrowed it from the library, but now I'm purchasing it from Amazon.