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Spooky Hour
From the creators of DINOSAURUMPUS! comes their new Halloween picture book about counting.
"Listen! Hush! Oooh, what's that sound? The midnight spooks are coming round." Tony Mitton and Guy Parker-Rees team up again to create another fun-filled book. Halloween is the setting as kids rhyme their way through the night and to a spook-filled birthday party. Emphasized sounds such as "CLICKETY CLACK" and "HISSSSS!" will allow younger children to enjoy the fun of reading. Parker-Rees's illustrations, in the tradition of DINOSAURUMPUS! and K IS FOR KISSING A COOL KANGAROO, are sure to delight.
"Listen! Hush! Oooh, what's that sound? The midnight spooks are coming round." Tony Mitton and Guy Parker-Rees team up again to create another fun-filled book. Halloween is the setting as kids rhyme their way through the night and to a spook-filled birthday party. Emphasized sounds such as "CLICKETY CLACK" and "HISSSSS!" will allow younger children to enjoy the fun of reading. Parker-Rees's illustrations, in the tradition of DINOSAURUMPUS! and K IS FOR KISSING A COOL KANGAROO, are sure to delight.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2004
7 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
September 8, 2019
This is a rhyming book counting down from various Halloween characters such as witches, wizards and suits of armors. The colors are bold and very seasonal, beautiful illustrations.
October 17, 2017
Count down from twelve with some creepy creatures, and get to the big surprise at the end of the book.
This would be a great read-aloud.
This would be a great read-aloud.
September 8, 2019
A fun quick read.
October 28, 2016
I was in the mood for some halloween books this year, thinking of the ones I had read as a kid, and looked up some from the library. I didn't think this one looked great, but I decided to give it a try.
Boy they weren’t kidding about the illustrator using bold colors!
it was cute how the cat&dog are holding their noses at the witche’s brew. Poor animals in there! As an adult, I don’t like that. I wonder what kids think of it!
I wish the story wasn’t about a cat&dog seeing spooky characters at night. I wish it were about kids.
The page with the owls was pretty.
I didn’t understand why cats were used as ‘spooky.’ They aren’t spooky. Neither are trolls. At least the ones in here. &they all have pleasant expressions. They could at least look scary.
The spiders didn’t look like spiders. If they were supposed to be scary, they should have had scary expressions, but they all looked happy. The last two were particularly cute.
The wizards reminded me of the three wise men, and didn't look scary at all.
Some pages are too bright to look like midnight. I wish it looked more like nighttime.
It was cool how the story came to the castle, which was in the background on the first page.
Mitch and Titch, the witchy twins came out of nowhere. I didn’t know there were going to be kids in here. Why weren’t they the ones discovering scary creatures, instead of a cat and dog?!
Then there’s this random big pumpkin pie everyone eats, and then a party. idk how the story ended here.
The dog and cat are with the twins on the last page, as if they’re their pets. Why were they alone throughout the story?
I wasn’t crazy about this story. The characters weren’t spooky, like the story leads you to believe. Some pages were pretty.
this was more like one star. It could have been better had the story used actual halloween/scary characters, instead of regular animals. and the book had looked more like nighttime. Also, if the ending hadn't been so random.
Boy they weren’t kidding about the illustrator using bold colors!
it was cute how the cat&dog are holding their noses at the witche’s brew. Poor animals in there! As an adult, I don’t like that. I wonder what kids think of it!
I wish the story wasn’t about a cat&dog seeing spooky characters at night. I wish it were about kids.
The page with the owls was pretty.
I didn’t understand why cats were used as ‘spooky.’ They aren’t spooky. Neither are trolls. At least the ones in here. &they all have pleasant expressions. They could at least look scary.
The spiders didn’t look like spiders. If they were supposed to be scary, they should have had scary expressions, but they all looked happy. The last two were particularly cute.
The wizards reminded me of the three wise men, and didn't look scary at all.
Some pages are too bright to look like midnight. I wish it looked more like nighttime.
It was cool how the story came to the castle, which was in the background on the first page.
Mitch and Titch, the witchy twins came out of nowhere. I didn’t know there were going to be kids in here. Why weren’t they the ones discovering scary creatures, instead of a cat and dog?!
Then there’s this random big pumpkin pie everyone eats, and then a party. idk how the story ended here.
The dog and cat are with the twins on the last page, as if they’re their pets. Why were they alone throughout the story?
I wasn’t crazy about this story. The characters weren’t spooky, like the story leads you to believe. Some pages were pretty.
this was more like one star. It could have been better had the story used actual halloween/scary characters, instead of regular animals. and the book had looked more like nighttime. Also, if the ending hadn't been so random.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2012
This book was a lot of fun to read. If you have been following my blog, you will know that I love books that are written in rhyming prose. This book was a spooky delight! It counted monsters down from twelve, then gives them all a Halloween party! It was fun to read and fun for my kids to listen to. Perfect for Halloween, too.
I love Guy Parker-Rees' illustrations. They are bright, colorful, and fun. A master of his craft, he lends his creative hand to enhance the enjoyment of this spooktacular party!
Books for Kids
I love Guy Parker-Rees' illustrations. They are bright, colorful, and fun. A master of his craft, he lends his creative hand to enhance the enjoyment of this spooktacular party!
Books for Kids
November 1, 2010
blah, don't waste your time.
October 14, 2020
As the clock strikes twelve in this Halloween rhyming tale the count down to one brings a big surprise and party to boot.
October 6, 2017
I like that tons of mpnsters came pit when the clock was on spooky hour.
October 31, 2017
Genre: Fiction
This book is great for Kindergarten and up! A great feature about this text is there is a CD that can read the book or play the music for you. A great way to make the story come alive!
This book is great for Kindergarten and up! A great feature about this text is there is a CD that can read the book or play the music for you. A great way to make the story come alive!
October 3, 2019
This book was spooky fun. There were all kinds of halloween characters in this story.
October 29, 2020
Black text on black background and other confusing layout choices. Okay art. Mediocre at best, though.
June 28, 2024
A little long. I would nix the latter part of the story to shorten it. The little storytime listeners wouldn't even know.
Otherwise, good rhyme and fun spoopy words for littles to learn.
Otherwise, good rhyme and fun spoopy words for littles to learn.
July 7, 2025
Part of the “Halloween nostalgia read” I did this afternoon. I LOVED this book as a kid. My favorite part was the pumpkin pie, bahaha.
October 31, 2025
This is a fun children's book for Halloween that counts down to a fun surprise! The text has a wonderful rhyming scheme and is interesting. The illustrations are bright and bold!
January 9, 2023
The cover of this book immediately grabbed my attention. A dancing skeleton - what could be better for the Halloween Season. But upon starting the book it got even better, for it is also a numbers book, with magical, mythical creatures gathering through the woods, and up to the castle. From Trolls, Wizards and Knights to spiders, skeletons and ghosts, they all gather in groups by their numbers and make their way to a Halloween gathering. This is a great story with fantastic illustrations. Will become a family seasonal favorite I am sure.
October 29, 2016
1.5
The artwork was very bold; it was like a punch in the eyes, an assault on the senses to have all of the pages completely filled with this deep color.
I did like how on the first two pages all of the creatures that are to come are already in the woods, so you know what’s coming. A witch is flying in front of the moon, a troll peeking from inside a tree, a ghost and skeletons hiding behind a tree, a wizard and cat running through the woods, an owl in the tree, and eyes on one of the trees. I didn’t understand why a cat and dog was experiencing this, though. It would have been so much better had kids been the ones to see it, because they can talk and understand things more than a cat and dog. And it’s particularly weird since cats are being used as one of the “spooky” things found in the woods, like cats are evil.
When the name of the book is Spooky Hour, it should be spooky, not lively and colorful. All of the characters looked really friendly and happy, not spooky in the slightest. He should rename it Fun Hour or something, because that’s what it looked like. The witches had no scare factor. And it was so sad that they were cooking up animals in their spell. There was a worm, a newt, some creature that looked like a purple heart inside the cauldron and a frog jumping out, and they looked bummed to be in there. He shouldn’t have put animals in there to be cooked alive. The only ones that looked mean were the cats, who didn’t really look that much like cats. The spiders didn’t look like spiders at all. They looked like hair balls and were too cute to be scary. The wizards were cool. They belonged in a fantasy book. I liked the trailing colorful stars from the wand of one of them, and the lanterns they were holding. I also liked their outfits, their tall, pointy hats. One had moons and stars on his clothes and another had sparkly symbols. It was odd how he put fantasy characters in a Halloween book, because they had no place. Out of all of the scary things on Halloween, like vampires and ghouls and everything else, and he uses cats and spiders and suits of armor. A really big miss on the Halloween spirit.
It was really random to flip the page and see two human kids when the dog and cat were the main characters, and they have names like the cat and dog know them. Then all of the creatures are eating one giant pumpkin pie, which made no sense. It’s like he wanted them to end up at a party and wanted them to have a Halloween-themed meal, but this was really random and weird. Then they’re playing a game of boo and jumping out and scaring each other, then hide and seek. Everyone’s tired and lays on the roof together, then the twin kids are sleeping with the cat and dog. This story didn’t make any sense and I didn’t like the writing. With the sounds like “tee-hee” and “wheeee” and “whooo” it was just too much of making sounds rather than full sentences, which I don’t like. Then with things like swirling, whirling, prowling, yowling, scowling, rumbling sound, grumbling ground, and screechy hide-and-seek, I was just sick of phrases like that.
The artwork was very bold; it was like a punch in the eyes, an assault on the senses to have all of the pages completely filled with this deep color.
I did like how on the first two pages all of the creatures that are to come are already in the woods, so you know what’s coming. A witch is flying in front of the moon, a troll peeking from inside a tree, a ghost and skeletons hiding behind a tree, a wizard and cat running through the woods, an owl in the tree, and eyes on one of the trees. I didn’t understand why a cat and dog was experiencing this, though. It would have been so much better had kids been the ones to see it, because they can talk and understand things more than a cat and dog. And it’s particularly weird since cats are being used as one of the “spooky” things found in the woods, like cats are evil.
When the name of the book is Spooky Hour, it should be spooky, not lively and colorful. All of the characters looked really friendly and happy, not spooky in the slightest. He should rename it Fun Hour or something, because that’s what it looked like. The witches had no scare factor. And it was so sad that they were cooking up animals in their spell. There was a worm, a newt, some creature that looked like a purple heart inside the cauldron and a frog jumping out, and they looked bummed to be in there. He shouldn’t have put animals in there to be cooked alive. The only ones that looked mean were the cats, who didn’t really look that much like cats. The spiders didn’t look like spiders at all. They looked like hair balls and were too cute to be scary. The wizards were cool. They belonged in a fantasy book. I liked the trailing colorful stars from the wand of one of them, and the lanterns they were holding. I also liked their outfits, their tall, pointy hats. One had moons and stars on his clothes and another had sparkly symbols. It was odd how he put fantasy characters in a Halloween book, because they had no place. Out of all of the scary things on Halloween, like vampires and ghouls and everything else, and he uses cats and spiders and suits of armor. A really big miss on the Halloween spirit.
It was really random to flip the page and see two human kids when the dog and cat were the main characters, and they have names like the cat and dog know them. Then all of the creatures are eating one giant pumpkin pie, which made no sense. It’s like he wanted them to end up at a party and wanted them to have a Halloween-themed meal, but this was really random and weird. Then they’re playing a game of boo and jumping out and scaring each other, then hide and seek. Everyone’s tired and lays on the roof together, then the twin kids are sleeping with the cat and dog. This story didn’t make any sense and I didn’t like the writing. With the sounds like “tee-hee” and “wheeee” and “whooo” it was just too much of making sounds rather than full sentences, which I don’t like. Then with things like swirling, whirling, prowling, yowling, scowling, rumbling sound, grumbling ground, and screechy hide-and-seek, I was just sick of phrases like that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 4, 2009
This is a fun counting book that works backwards through numbers while the story rhymes. We start off counting spooky creatures from 12 until we reach the castle.
The more I read this story the more I enjoy it. I love that it's the same Dog and Cat walking through the pages and coming across all the spooky creatures. One of my favourite pictures is when the dog and cat come upon the Witches dancing around their cauldron and they cover their noses because of the stinky smell. Too cute!
Bright, Fun illustrations, very silly! :0)
The more I read this story the more I enjoy it. I love that it's the same Dog and Cat walking through the pages and coming across all the spooky creatures. One of my favourite pictures is when the dog and cat come upon the Witches dancing around their cauldron and they cover their noses because of the stinky smell. Too cute!
Bright, Fun illustrations, very silly! :0)
February 5, 2015
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and this book makes it so much better! What I love about this book is the way the words flow across the page with the pictures. It isn't typical straight lines which is refreshing. I also love the illustrations in it because its bright and full of halloween haunting artwork. The best part is, its not just a book for fun reading. It is a counting book. The numbers start at 12 and count down until it reaches 1. It is a great way to teach numbers and counting down to any class or child. Of all the Holiday books I have read, this is one of my favorites.
June 16, 2013
I love counting books, of course, because I teach 1st grade! I am always looking for thematic counting books and Mitton's book fits the bill. I liked the rhymes that went with the spooky characters and I felt that the flow of the book and the counting went hand in hand! The illustrations are colorful and hilarious! I will add this book to my Halloween pile :) It is irresistible!! :> I give it 5 out of 5 YUPIs!!
March 1, 2014
I'm going to be honest. I am slightly bias to this book. Not because I have ever read this book before but because my all time favorite holiday is Halloween and so you could see why I loved this book so much. Also its a fun way to do counting with kids. I think kids would like this. The story is fun, even though its pretty much just about counting. And the pictures are fun and not too spooky. This would be a great book to have around Halloween.
May 5, 2015
My 3 year old picked out Spooky Hour at random at the library. I was a little worried as I read it because he's at a stage where he's very easily frightened by monsters and whatnot. I loved the way it ended up, though, it was very cute.
This children's book has full page color illustrations (it makes me a little angry when they don't!) in deep, bold colors. They were beautiful and we enjoyed them immensely.
This children's book has full page color illustrations (it makes me a little angry when they don't!) in deep, bold colors. They were beautiful and we enjoyed them immensely.
January 14, 2017
The book The Spooky Hour by Tony Mitton will always have a special place in my heart it is the first book I ever read by myself and is the earliest memory I have of a book. My parents read it to me every night and in turn I read what I could to them until I no longer had them help me with words. It really helped that I had almost memorized everything. No matter how many years have passed I will always remember this book.
Read
February 3, 2011Spooky Hour is great book that can be incorporated as a math text. When teaching counting to younger student such as pre-kindergarten, it can be used as a teaching tool. (i.e. Counting backwards starting from number twelve)It always has great rhyming schemes on each page which students will enjoy as well.
October 10, 2011
Not the cutest illustrations, but the text perfectly evokes the magic of childhood Halloweens. The plot: An assortment of Halloween creatures do their spooky, rhyming business in a haunted forest, culminating in a Halloween party. A couple years ago, my almost 2YO had me read it over and over on Halloween night. It was the best mood setter, and teaches numbers up to 12 while you're at it.
August 27, 2016
The pictures in this book were fantastic! I thought they really contributed to the theme of Halloween and making it seem like a spooky but fun holiday. I also really liked how it incorporated counting down from 12. It would be a great book to read with a child who is learning how to count because you could have them count the objects instead of reading the number to them.
November 5, 2009
Fun, active Halloween book to read with younger ones! (Great introduction or review of counting backwards from 10 to 1 or it could be used to do an activity with subtraction (taking away one each time).
February 14, 2014
I thought that this book was really cute. I loved all of the pictures and illustrations in it. I would definitely read this to my students around Halloween time. I think it is great for the kids, because it is not a scary book at all and more of a silly one to read.
October 16, 2014
The illustrations for this book are awesome and super cute! They can easily keep kids entertained and I loved just looking at the drawings. That was my favorite part of the book! Such a fun read and I definitely think reading this to younger kids would be lots of fun!
February 7, 2008
Very cute and easy to follow. Not quite as year round useful as Down by the Cool of the Pool but still very fun to read
Want to read
September 26, 2009Since the basics of this book have completely slipped my memory I'm putting back in the TBR pile before I attempt writing a full review.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews