The Big Spooky House

This was tops on my 4 year old nephew's Christmas list a year and a half...and it is still his favorite! The scarier the better and this one fits the bill!

I remember reading this book to grade school classes when I was a media specialist. The children loved it and I liked it because I didn't get bored reading it nine times to different classes. This indicates a solid book open to fresh oral rephrasing - in other words "A good read-aloud". And yes, it's just scary enough to liven up library hour. If your child is fright-sensitive make a decision beforehand, but for most kids bring it on!

I bought this book last year for my then 3-yr-old and it was the first book that he absolutely loved. He still consistently chooses this one for a bed-time story. Why? Maybe it's the easy cadence and repetition of the words which allow him to "read" certain parts. Maybe it's the exceptional illustrations that keep us looking even a year later (see how many cat images you can find in the house). And he still laughs at the joke at the end. (I, too, like another reviewer, like the fact that a person of color takes the starring role, yet his race is irrelevant to the storyline. "He was a big man, he was a strong man" but there's no mention of the obvious fact that he's also a black man.)

My 5 year old daughter has just learned to read and adores this story. She loves the repetition of "He was a big man, he was a strong man" and the pictures greatly complement the text. She and I loved the ending the best. A great scary read aloud that your children will want to hear over and over throughout the years.

This is a wonderful book! It's great to see people of color in a book that doesn't really have anything to do with race! Kids will be scared out of their socks but there is a great lesson in these pages. This is a wonderful buy for children between the ages of 4 and 10.