Product Description

On the night before Christmas at the old haunted house, not a creature is stirring, until . . . "Aroo-roo!" Someone steps on the werewolf and wakes him, but who? He's blaming the manticore, who's blaming the cat, who's blaming the zombie, who points to the bat. Help! Luckily, dear Santa Mouse knows the perfect solution to calming and quieting all this Christmas confusion.
Judy Sierra and Will Hillenbrand, the ingeniously wicked team behind The House That Drac Built, have turned a holiday classic into howling, rollicking fun!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1638179 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

Amazon.com Review
Judy Sierra and illustrator Will Hillenbrand (The House That Drac Built, Counting Crocodiles) trick us with a treat: the deliciously Halloweeny Christmas book 'Twas the Fright Before Christmas. In this rhyming yuletide treasure, Santa is a mouse, and his sleigh is pulled through the night sky by the cutest bats on the planet. The stage is set: "'Twas a midwinter eve / at the old haunted house. / Not a creature was stirring... / Well, maybe a mouse." The story continues, "The dragon had fallen asleep on the stair. / The manticore snoozed in his favorite chair. / In a pot by the fireplace the fiend's stew was steaming. / Beside it the bat dangled upside down, dreaming." Somehow this talented team manages to conjure a holiday season that is creepy but utterly cozy—-a mummy clutches his Christmas list as an old zombie dozes on the divan. Meanwhile, the illustrations reveal what the text does not. Here comes Santa Mouse, dragging many times his weight in presents! Conflict erupts when the manticore is scratched by the cat and then mangles the tail of the werewolf, who awakes with a howl, etc. etc. Of course the cat is squashed by the zombie, who's responding to the bat, who's struck by the fiend: "'It wasn't my fault!' protested the bat. / 'The fiend flung his spoon and it hit me----ker-splat! / You'd flip and flap, too, if it happened to you.'" Amidst all the chaos, sharp eyes will spot the quiet antics of Santa Mouse, desperately trying to fulfill holiday obligations. Santa Mouse finally comes to the fore when he reads them a sweet bedtime story ("Make it gruesome and gory," says the bat), serves them cocoa with marshmallow sauce ("'Top it off,' yipped the werewolf, 'with mildew and moss.'"), calms the monsters down, and flies away to deliver more Christmas cheer. (Ages 3 to 7) --Karin Snelson

From Publishers Weekly
'Twas the night before Christmas and not only is a mouse stirring, he is delivering gifts to a haunted house and driving a sleigh powered by eight tiny bats in Sierra and Hillenbrand's (collaborators for The House that Drac Built) gigglishly ghoulish, Halloween-inspired rendition of Moore's Christmas classic. After initially blaming one another for interrupting their long winter's naps, the werewolf, zombie, mummy and pals soon make nice, encouraged by the tiny rodent with a red cap. Readers will enjoy tracking the mostly unnarrated progress of the mouse amid the funny and dynamic mixed-media paintings. Ages 3-7.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-A host of gruesome inhabitants of a haunted house is dozing by the fireplace on Christmas Eve when suddenly the werewolf is rudely awakened. It seems that his tail has been bitten by the manticore, who was scratched by the cat, who was squeezed by the zombie, and so on in a cumulative chain reaction. The trouble is finally traced to a tiny Santa mouse who came down the chimney with presents. The story is told in adequate rhyming couplets, but the real fun lies in the charming illustrations. Kids will grin at the dragon's gaping nostrils, the manticore's one sock, and the fact that almost all of the creatures have a small object to cuddle. The tiny mouse appears on almost every spread but must be hunted for, adding to the entertainment, and the sled-pulling bats are an amusing touch. Not a necessary addition, but a frightfully pleasing one.-E. M.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Totally awesome
My 2 year old daughter and I have this book memorized and we frequently make quotes from the book. This book goes in my all time top 10 list.

Great Book
If your child loves Halloween and Christmas, they will love this book. Mummys and Christmas just kind of go together.

Author of "Hobo Finds A Home"