Haunted House, Haunted Mouse

Adventures of Mouse

by Judy Cox, Jeffrey Ebbeler (Illustrator)

Mouse's appetite leads him on a Halloween adventure when he hitches a ride in a trick-or-treat bag of candy and finds himself alone in a haunted house.

Genres: Halloween, Picture Books, Holiday, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Adventure

Paperback

First published August 1, 2011

About the author

Author of children's books

Reviews

[Lata]

A cute, little Halloween story about a curious mouse.

[Savannah Crider]

This book has a simple Halloween themed storyline, but does not really have an educational meaning behind it. I love the illustrations in this book. It would be a great book to read as a filler around Halloween, as a fun activity! It I think younger students, Kindergarten through 2nd grade, would love this book. It is very cute.

[Barbara]

It's Halloween, and Mouse hitches a ride in the sack of a trick-or-treater who comes by his house looking for candy. As soon as he can, he slips out of the sack because all of its swaying to and from makes him dizzy. Looking for shelter, he spies an abandoned house that may be haunted. Although he manages to survive his brief stay in the building, he wants to go home, and cleverly, follows a line of dropped candy back to his hidey-hole. I loved the acrylic illustrations that contain so many elements worth noticing. My favorite one is the last page with Mouse celebrating, candy corn tucked in his mouth like two fangs, candy wrappers on his ear tufts, and marshmellow treats stuck to all four paws. The beginning of the story felt a bit disorienting, but once the candy started coming, this one turned out to be simply delicious.

[Eli Poteet]

i cant handle the mouse kid stories because i cant stand the unrealistic lack of health concerns. the painted illustrations are pretty incredible but someones the hands/fingers looked like feet/toes and its still bothering me.

[Anthony]

Mouse comes out of his hidey-hole, and stows himself away in a candy bag of a trick or treater, and finds out for himself what Halloween is all about, getting lost in the meantime, while seeking shelter from a sudden storm.

[Jennifer]

Little guy picked it out and enjoyed it. Follows a trail of candy home.

[Jodie]

Such a cute story. Read it for bedtime to my niece and nephew and they loved it! Great illustrations. Reminded me a little of the movie Flushed Away. Cute concept and characters.

[Haaley]

I really enjoyed this book. The illustrations were fun and the story had unique and fun details.

[Nancy]

Clever illustrations

[Snow]

*4.5/5

[Thomas Bell]

Weird and pointless book.

[bay]

bought this & a bunch of other cute halloween children's books to make some buttons (my fav hobby); this one was very cute!

[Laurie]

Booklist (October 15, 2011 (Vol. 108, No. 4))

Grades K-2. Having survived Thanksgiving in One Is a Feast for Mouse (2008) and a parade in Cinco de Mouse-O! (2010), Cox’s curious, bespectacled mouse is back in trouble when he scurries into a child’s trick-or-treat bag and ends up being toted to a haunted house. Ebbeler’s acrylics have rarely been finer, creating dizzying point-of-view panoramas as Mouse views the world upside down, sideways, and every other way as he is carried in a bag full of seemingly giant candy. Clever Halloween details abound for the sharp-eyed reader, but even those who are sleepy-eyed will get a kick out of this.



Horn Book (Spring 2012)

In the third book featuring Mouse in a holiday-themed story, the adventurous rodent finds himself in a jostling sack of Halloween candy carried by a "little bitty ghost." Large-scale illustrations picture the chaotic journey through rain and thunder and a spooky house until he returns home. The cluttered, dark-hued illustrations, while creatively composed, can be difficult to discern.



Kirkus Reviews (August 1, 2011)

Those charmed by Mouse's previous adventures inOne is a Feast for Mouse: A Thanksgiving Tale(2009) andCinco de Mouse-O!(2010) should prepare for gasps and giggles as he struggles through a series of (somewhat) unfortunate events. After peeking from his "hidey-hole," Mouse ventures out to make the most of a trick-or-treater's dropped bag. He crawls into it, finding "more candy than Mouse had ever seen"-but he is whisked off while still inside. After being carried, swinging and swaying, around the neighborhood, the sack is dropped again, and disoriented Mouse finds himself caught in a serious downpour. Seeking shelter, he scampers into an abandoned house. Is it haunted? No, but heislost, far from his home. In a sweet turn, candy literally saves the night. Mouse spies "a cherry lollipop shining in the moonlight," one of many pieces of Halloween loot that make a trail he can follow all the way home. Cox keeps readers turning pages with fast-paced action in her descriptive text. Ebbeler contributes plenty for the eye to feast upon in his bountiful acrylic-on-paper scenes. Readers will delight in the cast of costumed characters populating the pages and get a true feel for Mouse's perspective in both exciting and slightly dire situations. Consider this a Halloween treat for children ready for longer, more visually complex picture-book fare.(Picture book. 4-7)



Publishers Weekly (August 29, 2011)

In Mouse's third holiday adventure (after Cinco de Mouse-o and One Is a Feast for Mouse), he hitches a ride in a trick-or-treat bag, but gets motion sickness and finds shelter from a storm in a (maybe) haunted house. Ebbeler fills his acrylic spreads with angular, mouse-eye perspectives and whimsical costumes that will tickle readers' imaginations. Mouse, with his Rachel Maddow-style eyeglasses, striped shirt, and oversize ears, is a charming guide to this richly detailed world. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.



School Library Journal (October 1, 2011)

K-Gr 2-When the doorbell rings on Halloween night, Mouse's curiosity is piqued as he sees some costumed kids receiving candy. He jumps into one of the candy-laden trick-or-treat bags and gnaws a small hole so he can see what is happening, but he quickly gets motion sickness and leaves the bag behind. A rainstorm drives him into an abandoned house. At first a little frightened by what he sees, Mouse yells, "Boo!" to show that he's not afraid. Luckily, the moonlight shines into the room and shows that everything making noise or strange shadows is harmless. Remember that hole Mouse gnawed in the bag? Conveniently, pieces of candy were falling out one by one and he is able to follow the trail back to his own hidey-hole. (Hansel and Gretel would be proud.) Ebbeler's acrylic paintings do a wonderful job of conveying the little rodent's emotions throughout the story. The colors help to set the tone, especially in the house, where the illustrations are mostly sepia and black, making it seem just as creepy for children as it is for Mouse until the moonlight shines and the objects are revealed. While a bit predictable, the story does provide an acceptable supplemental Halloween adventure.-Amy Commers, South St. Paul Public Library, MN (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

[Emily Hilkemann]

In this book Halloween is told from the perspective of a mouse, who joins three little trick-or-treaters on their route. The mouse takes shelter from a rainstorm in an old abandoned house. After finding out the house is not really haunted and the storm is over it is time for him to go home again. But where is home? Will he be able to find his way back? “Haunted House, Haunted Mouse” is a great book for kids to enjoy during this Halloween season. It can be used to teach kids about facing your fears as the mouse did when he thought he was seeing ghosts. I would recommend this book for kids in grades kindergarten through second.

Cox, J., & Ebbeler, J. (2011). Haunted house, haunted mouse. New York: Holiday House.

[Judy Desetti]

Part of a series about the Mouse by Judy Cox. This time the Mouse is experiencing Halloween. He gets into a candy bag for a trick or treater and ends up taking a tour of the neighborhood until it starts to downpour. Luckily Mouse makes it back home.

Similar to all the other tales. I wish it had a bit more about Halloween. For those who loved the other Mouse tales.

[babyhippoface]

I was excited about this one because I really like Cox's One Is a Feast for Mouse and I use it every year with lower grades. I found this a little disappointing, though. Jeffrey Ebbeler's illustrations are adorable, as always; I particularly love Mouse's costume on the very last page. The story doesn't grow the way One Is a Feast did, though, and I felt like it was more a series of little Halloween happenings than one big, building adventure.

[Dolly]

A little mouse has a fun and scary adventure on Halloween. The story is told from the mouse's perspective, and the illustrations show what he sees. There are a lot of fun details in the pictures (love the three Abe Lincolns!) and we had fun pointing out some of the crazy costumes. The narrative is short and not very scary, so this book is good for reading aloud with younger children. We enjoyed reading this story together.

[Sandybear76]

The little mouse is back for another holiday book. This time it's a Halloween book. Little mouse sees trick-or-treaters and gets in a trick-or-treat bag to get candy. But he was carried away from his home. When a rainstorm begins, Mouse finds a house to get out of the rain but spooky things are happening.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance]

Mouse hops inside a trick-or-treat bag and before he knows it he is out celebrating Halloween. He ends up in a very scary house with weird noises and strange shapes. Is the house haunted?

“He heard bones rattle.
A skeleton dancing?
He saw eyes glimmer.
A goblin prancing?
A pale shape floated
past. A ghost haunting?”

[Dominique Maderitz]

This story was about little mouse who loved candy little to much. With his love for candy he found himself in little pickle. This story is about him going on an adventure to a haunted house. I really loved this book and found it eye catching and exciting. The images in this book were so colorful. The story was interesting and how the little mouse found his way home was ironic.

[Jenna Gantenbein]

This book had a lot of unique illustrations. There was just something about them that really stood out. This book would be excellent to read to kids around Halloween time. It's funny because candy is the reason the mouse ended up at the haunted house and it's the reason why he was able to find his way back home.

[Kelli Gleiner]

I love Jeffrey Ebbeler's illustrations, and we are lucky to have him in the Cincinnati area.
Catch him at blue manatee on October 29th at 10:30 for a reading, discussion, signing and an art activity!

[Firstgradejags]

This story is about a mouse who crawled into a trick-or-treat bag and got lost on Halloween. He chewed a hole in the trick-or-treat bag and candy fell out. He found his way home by following the candy trail.

[Katt Hansen]

The biggest treat of this cute story about a mouse who goes out Trick or Treating is the illustrations. Take time to savor each page, to seek out and enjoy the details. The costumes alone are brilliant (and should give you lots of ideas for your little trick or treaters!

[Michal Hope]

2 years later, I still love Judy Cox's books! My kindergartener also loves them....this is one of our favorites, along with the Thanksgiving mouse tale.

I just love Judy Cox's books. They are such great examples of imagery and who doesn't love a good mouse book anyway?

[John]

I cannot wait to read this to kindergarten.

[Edward Sullivan]

A read aloud must for Halloween.

[Donalyn]

The eternally hungry Mouse climbs into a Trick or Treat sack and goes on an unexpected adventure. A fun read for Halloween.

[Martha]

"Mouse tippawed down the hall . . . " I LOVE IT!!!!

[Tam]

My boys (ages 4 & 8)didn't like this book. I'm not sure why it didn't hold their attention, it just didn't.