Spooky House

A Billie B Mystery #1

by Sally Rippin, Aki Fukuoka (Illustrator)

Billie and her friends dare each other to explore the spooky house at the end of the street. They are sure it's haunted. So scary! But if anyone can handle ghosts, it's Billie B Brown!

Genres: Childrens, 2nd Grade, Fiction, Mystery, Chapter Books

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Sally Rippin was born in Darwin, but grew up mainly in South-East Asia. As a young adult she lived in China for three years, studying traditional Chinese painting. Sally has over seventy books published, many of them award-winning, including two novels for young adults. Her most recent work includes the highly acclaimed children’s novel Angel Creek and the popular Billie B Brown books, which became the highest selling series for 6-8 year olds in Australia within the first year of their release. Sally is Australia’s highest selling female author and her Billie B Brown books have sold more than 4.5 million copies in 14 languages.
​
Sally is a popular presenter in schools and at literary festivals both in Australia and overseas and has a regular program on 3RRR interviewing children’s authors and industry professionals. She is a passionate ambassador for the 100 Story Building creative writing centre for marginalized youth and has mentored many emerging writers and illustrators. Recently, she and her partner co-founded Story Peddlers, a hand-made performance tent that packs away into a custom-built bike, with the aim of bringing back the art of the roving storyteller.

Reviews

[Matti Karjalainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Billie B. Brown haluaa perustaa ystäviensä Alexin, Mikaelan ja Jackin kanssa mysteerikerhon, mutta ongelmaksi muodostuu se, ettei pikkukaupungissa ole oikein paljon arvoituksia ratkaistavaksi. Niinpä Billie kehittelee päässään tarinan noidasta, joka asuu vanhassa ja aavemaisessa talossa, ja sahaamisen ja jauhamisen äänistä päätellen jauhaa siellä lasten luita - vaan mitenpä mahtaakaan käydä kun lapset lähtevät oikeasti taloa tutkimaan?

Sally Rippinin "Karmiva talo" (Twinsy, 2017) aloittaa helppolukuisen dekkarisarjan, joka kantaa nimeä Billie B -mysteerit. Lopputulos on ihan mukava lajityyppinsä edustaja, jossa on mukana sopivasti jännitystä ja jonkinmoinen opetus siitä, että huijari saa lopuksi itse pitkän nenän.

Teksti on isoa ja kuvia löytyy runsaasti, joten ensisijaisena kohderyhmänä voisivat toimia ykkös-kolmosluokkalaiset tytöt - ja mikseivät pojatkin.

[Anna Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect spooky story for young readers. Fast paced chapters with plenty of twists and turns, all with the underlying message of friendship.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

review coming soon

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute story. Shared reading with my grandson. He did great! 💜💜💜

[Christina Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I sell these books and my son (6 1/2) insisted on buying it from me. My son is easily frightened, yet loves the idea of being frightened, which is why (I think) he chose this book. I read it to him mid-June and since then he has read it on his own 3 more times! I had no idea this would be a hit.

It's a story of Billie B and her friends (one of which is Jack, who has his own series) and their escapades. In this particular story, Billie B tries to entice her friends to solve a mystery, but wonders if there are any mysteries to be solved in their town.

The book highlights words children might not yet know, such as "bravely" and used many onomatopoeias to keep it lively and fun during dialogue and action. This 90-page book has more than 1/2 dozen images to help keep the story imagery alive in young minds.

[Anu-vinkkari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oikein kiva ensidekkari eka-kolmasluokkalaisille. Nätti kansi, isoa harvaa tekstiä ja selkeästi piirretyt, sarjakuvamaiset kuvat. Aiheena se perinteinen neljä kaverusta kaipaa jännitystä ja perustaa mysteerikerhon. Ekassa osassa ratkaistaan tien perukoilla sijaitsevan kummitustalon arvoitusta. Vaikka mysteerikerhossa on myös pari poikaa, (tämäkin) pinkki/liilasävytteinen sarja on selvästi suunnattu enemmän tytöille. En anna siitä miinusta, mutta toivisin niin, että joku kirjoittaisi/kääntäisi vastaavaa huttua myös lukemista aloitteleville pojille!
Ennustan tälle sarjalle melkoista koulukirjastomenestystä ja siitä syystä myös toivon, että näitä käännettäisiin enemmän kuin ekat kaksi tai kolme osaa.

[Shannon Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very entertaining for my daughter. The book begins with developing the relationship between the main characters. Throughout the book it had many scenarios that gives parents an opportunity to address important topics such as friendship, lying, and interactions with strangers. I like that the book is not written in a way to be directly educational, but if the reader is guided it can teach important lessons. The book ends with a to be continued, which really peaked my daughters interest. I feel ending the book with a cliffhanger keeps young readers engaged. Overall I highly recommend this series.

[Rebecca]

Billie decides to start the Secret Mystery Club with her friends, but has one problem--there are no mysteries to solve. When Billie makes up a scary mystery story about the house down the street and the witch that lives inside, her friends agree to solve the mystery. That is, unless Billie has made the mystery a little too scary for her friends--and herself! The first in a series. This story is fairly short, but the vocabulary may be tricky, making it a good choice for younger children with a higher reading level.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Billie B thinks it would be fun to solve mysteries, but her friends don't seem all that interested in playing until she makes things more spooky. Only, the more she scares them, the madder they are when they find out she's made up the whole thing. In a classic Boy Who Cried Wolf sort of way, Billie B lands in a real mystery, and finds out what it's like to be scared. The game isn't so fun anymore!

[Andy Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sally Rippin, “Spooky House: A Billie B Mystery” (​​Richmond, Victoria, Aust: Hardie Grant Egmont, 2013).

Nice to be back in Billie & Jack's world again ***

“'Detectives are like Sherlock Holmes. Spies are like James Bond.' (says Alex)
'Can I be James Bond?' says Mika.
'Bags being Sherlock Holmes!' says Jack. …
'We'll be more like the Famous Five. Or the Secret Seven.' (says Billie)” (p7)
- - -

[Gaby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Billie B Brown's spunky character and there is a god moral to the story. I can't help but read these with my 'teacher' hat on and wish that it was a bit less repetitive. That said, these books are very popular with my grade two and three girls - they are excited to get into chapter books and because they are short they can get through each one successfully.

[Thuy · Rating 4 out of 5]

the emotions and miscommunications and imaginations running wild is so genuine with kids these age. my DD can totally relate and the responses from her friends were on point that it teaches my kid great social skills

[Kate Wylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

All your books are amazing keep on doing what you are doing and my last comment explains it all!!

[Callie · Rating 5 out of 5]

actually loved having a cliff-hanger ending

[Elisabeth Høgseth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 8 year old loved it - so I am giving her the stars and evaluation here :)

[Nikki Flynn]

I don’t know how to rate this book because it’s obviously not meant for people my age! I read it aloud to my little cousin and it was a super fun time!

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this series for my 7-year-old daughter and she loves them! The reading level is perfect for her and we take turns reading chapters. Great books to get your kid reading!

[Jill Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sally Rippin has created a lovely series for young and early readers. Billie B Brown is a bubbly and inquisitive child. Her dad and mum love baking and looking after her and baby brother Noah. Her best friends are Jack, Alex and Mika. Billie gets a magnifying glass from her grandma. She decides they should become detectives and solve mysteries. First mystery, who lives in the creepy house down the street? The garden is all overgrown and they don’t think anyone lives there. They hear grinding and creaking noises from inside. There are strange objects in a room when they peek inside. Could they be ghosts? Billie has her friends feeling nervous about meeting the witch inside when they go to investigate. They name themselves the Secret Mystery Club, with a handshake and secret call code. Will they discover a witch inside the scary house?

[Nichole Ostrander · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter asked me to read this book, and I waited until October because it is a mystery about a spooky house. While this story in and of it’s self is told many times, I loved it. Billie is a spunky girl who tries to get a new club started. She ends up scaring her friends a little and I hen becomes the one scared. This book has a life lesson written inside and is seriously cute. I also got engaged with the story and completely understand why my daughter loved it. It ended on a cliffhanger so
It looks like the next book is in our future.

[P Crannell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book

[Carter Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished this today, and my son literally RAN to grab book 2! It was great!

[Becky S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main character is sure manipulative to her friends. I like these little detective stories.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bilie.b lies to her friends about
The spooky hunted house

[Reetta Saine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uusi dekkarisarja, kepoisaa höttöä ja ystävyyspohdintaa pienillä väärinkäsityksestä johtuvilla kauhuväreillä.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I wasn’t sure I liked how Billie acts towards her friends by deceiving them, but in the end I liked the lesson about it being rude and wrong to lie.

[✨maddy✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Emmeri Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

it’a good i really like it

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty cute, if not terribly original.
A fun read for kids.

[Sharon Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

good