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Scholastic Reader
Inside A House That Is Haunted (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)
The author/illustrator team of Inside a Barn in the Country uses picture clues to tell this funny story about a spider, a cat, a bat, and many other "creatures" inside a spooky house.
Library Binding
First published January 1, 1998
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239 people want to read
About the author
Alyssa Satin Capucilli
276 books166 followersAlyssa Satin Capucilli was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1957. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, and pursued her interest in dance, becoming a professional dancer and dance instructor. Though Capucilli had written stories, poems, and even puppet shows as a child, she didn't consider a career as a writer until after her own two children were born. To this day she sees herself as both a dancer and a writer, and the two professions complement each other nicely: dancing is, in her words, “telling stories in another way,” and readers of her children's books can attest to the rhythm of her language. Since 1994, she has written more than 15 books for children, and her work has been translated into French, Hebrew, Afrikaans, Greek, and Bulgarian.
Capucilli lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, with her husband and children. They have a chocolate Labrador retriever named Huckleberry, who likes to watch the author at work.
Capucilli lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, with her husband and children. They have a chocolate Labrador retriever named Huckleberry, who likes to watch the author at work.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
September 12, 2019
This is a rhyming, progressive and repetitive sequence of events of the spooky creatures that live in the haunted house interacting with each other. The colors are bold and the drawings are unique; fun for Halloween.
April 22, 2023
The kids at daycare are obsessed with the read-along song of this book! Reading it again with them gave me some flashbacks like I must have read or heard this as a child… I never would have remembered otherwise. But it’s such a fun Halloween book! 👻
December 3, 2019
Amazing. I listened to the audiobook, it was so much fun. Loved it.😍😍😍
August 19, 2018
Poetry
Summary: This book is a rhyming book that is based on a story about a haunted house where the characters begin to interact. Each of the characters take a turn at scaring one another, but the true action begins when trick or treat starts.
Evaluation: The book is leading up to each activity by showing a small picture that will help the students to understand the vocabulary. The book is also a great picture book that can help to show students the pictures related to the vocabulary if they are reading it on their own. The teachers could also read this as a read aloud for grades such as kindergarten where the students would be introduced to larger vocabulary words. Overall, this book is a great resource for grades kindergarten to second. I would rate it as 4 out of 5 because I feel that it has great ways to engage students in the reading of the book.
Activity: This book would be a great read aloud where the teacher could engage the students in coming up and acting it out through Reader’s Theatre. The teacher could choose one student to be the hand, the spider, the ghost, the cat the bat, the owl, the mummy, the skeleton, the monster and the boy. This would be an interactive way that the students could begin to recite dialogue even in kindergarten. The students would be asked to step to the front and they would be given lines to recite each time the teacher read about their character. This is an engaging way to keep students’ attention after reading the story multiple times. On the first day, the teacher could read the story and explain the characters. On the second day, the teacher could read the story and explain the plot. On the third day, the teacher could read the story and explain the setting. On the fourth day, the teacher could read the story and explain the reason of using readers theatre and have students act out the story. The teacher can pair this with the standard of learning about holidays and use this as a way to celebrate Halloween in the classroom. This corresponds with several standards just in kindergarten but can easily be applied to other standards such as character, setting and plot standards.
ELAGSEKSL1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. a. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others and taking turns speaking about the topics and texts under discussion). b. Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges. ELAGSEKSL2 Confirm understanding of written texts read aloud or information presented orally or through media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood
SSKH1 The student will identify the purpose of national holidays and describe the people or events celebrated.
Summary: This book is a rhyming book that is based on a story about a haunted house where the characters begin to interact. Each of the characters take a turn at scaring one another, but the true action begins when trick or treat starts.
Evaluation: The book is leading up to each activity by showing a small picture that will help the students to understand the vocabulary. The book is also a great picture book that can help to show students the pictures related to the vocabulary if they are reading it on their own. The teachers could also read this as a read aloud for grades such as kindergarten where the students would be introduced to larger vocabulary words. Overall, this book is a great resource for grades kindergarten to second. I would rate it as 4 out of 5 because I feel that it has great ways to engage students in the reading of the book.
Activity: This book would be a great read aloud where the teacher could engage the students in coming up and acting it out through Reader’s Theatre. The teacher could choose one student to be the hand, the spider, the ghost, the cat the bat, the owl, the mummy, the skeleton, the monster and the boy. This would be an interactive way that the students could begin to recite dialogue even in kindergarten. The students would be asked to step to the front and they would be given lines to recite each time the teacher read about their character. This is an engaging way to keep students’ attention after reading the story multiple times. On the first day, the teacher could read the story and explain the characters. On the second day, the teacher could read the story and explain the plot. On the third day, the teacher could read the story and explain the setting. On the fourth day, the teacher could read the story and explain the reason of using readers theatre and have students act out the story. The teacher can pair this with the standard of learning about holidays and use this as a way to celebrate Halloween in the classroom. This corresponds with several standards just in kindergarten but can easily be applied to other standards such as character, setting and plot standards.
ELAGSEKSL1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. a. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others and taking turns speaking about the topics and texts under discussion). b. Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges. ELAGSEKSL2 Confirm understanding of written texts read aloud or information presented orally or through media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood
SSKH1 The student will identify the purpose of national holidays and describe the people or events celebrated.
March 16, 2021
This book follows the same structure as There Once Was a Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. The rhyme and repetition explain the story of several friends in a haunted house getting spooked by a knock at the door. The knock came from a trick-or-treater, who in the end, scared the "scary things."The main reasoning for my high rating is the illustrations. I was literally just wondering the illustrator's name who drew these types of pictures. The images are very bright and overlayed in, what looks like, a bunch of squiggles. The illustrations are what made it for me. Not only are they unique, but they also add a comedic tone to the story.
October 12, 2018
This is a simple rhyming book that describes the happenings inside a haunted house when a child knocks on the door. Ghosts shout, "Boo." Bats are set into a frenzy, and all the other monsters in the house are roused.
This was a book was a favorite of my childhood and I love sharing it with my niece and nephews. It has pictures in place of some words and a repetitive rhythm, so even kids who can't read yet can help you read this book.
I would give this book to some of my students who have a more difficult time reading. It would also be fun to write a story in the same vein as this story.
This was a book was a favorite of my childhood and I love sharing it with my niece and nephews. It has pictures in place of some words and a repetitive rhythm, so even kids who can't read yet can help you read this book.
I would give this book to some of my students who have a more difficult time reading. It would also be fun to write a story in the same vein as this story.
February 26, 2018
This book is about a haunted house. It goes into detail about everything in that house that makes it so spooky and haunted! It kind of has a nursery rhyme feel and I think that is what makes this book great for young children. I might not choose this book if I was teaching a grade above 1st. However, if I was teaching a young grade I think it would be a perfect book to start off the halloween season.
October 16, 2017
This book has a great sing-song quality that drives the rhythm of the book in a more natural way than most repetitive books I've read. During the Halloween season, you can use the format to prompt your pre-reading child, helping them think about words as symbolic. As always, Tedd Arnold's illustrations are amazing.
October 3, 2020
Gave this to my 2 and 4 year old nephews and they loved it. They made me read it over and over to the point they would be reading along with me ( probably more memorized it) but they just loved it. Caught the 4 y/o reading it to the 2 y/o on their own. So cute I need to find the other two books like this for them.
September 6, 2024
This is a rebus story - pictures are used to represent some of the words so kids can read along.
Each page repeats all the words on the previous one then adds one more character and action so it gets a little long for a child's attention span.
The illustrations are adorable and just the right amount of spooky.
Each page repeats all the words on the previous one then adds one more character and action so it gets a little long for a child's attention span.
The illustrations are adorable and just the right amount of spooky.
October 13, 2017
So repetitive it will make you crazy. Just seems like she was trying to fill up her pages quickly. Cute illustrations. But after about the 4th time of repeating it, you get tired of saying it and the kids get tired of hearing it.
September 6, 2019
This silly book is about a haunted house. This is a great book for younger children to try and go along with you. Also gotta love a good Halloween book. It's so adorable that the trick or treaters SCARED ALL THE MONSTERS IN THE HOUSE.
June 5, 2018
Great Read-Along story for little kids! The Spider, Ghost, Cat, Bats, Owl, Mummy, and Skeleton all help the story to move.
October 22, 2018
I listened to this audiobook on YouTube and it wasn’t being read. There was singing throughout the book and I thought that made it a lot of fun to listen to. I enjoyed listening to this.
December 21, 2018
This is very similar in style to The Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly. It keeps adding details until the very end, where, BAM! Trick or Treat!
September 23, 2019
Cute, rhythmic book. I really liked the art.
October 11, 2019
a rebus version of "The House that Jack Built." this version adds characters in the reverse way
October 14, 2019
I don’t think a children’s book has ever made me work or laugh this hard. Great book I shall purchase for my children one day.
October 20, 2019
So cute! My child and I read this and omg we loved it!!!!!!!
March 17, 2020
It’s really cute and it rhymes and the end is funny.
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October 22, 2020J read 2019 mom read 2020
October 23, 2020
It's a fun Halloween tale and rhyming book--loved it!
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March 23, 20212 paperback copies
October 18, 2021
This was a favorite book of my third child. I have read it so many times I could still recite it to you--he's 18 now.
May 4, 2022
My 2 year old loves the repetition and also loves “reading” the symbols where words are replaced with pictures. Bit annoying to read several times over the spooky season.
October 12, 2022
So! Stinkin’! Cute! Just a precious Halloween book! 🎃 👻
October 31, 2023
My kid’s favorite Halloween book for years
February 13, 2024
Fun book to read, you can easily use motions for the rebuses, have the kids repeat them and have them call out the words as you go along. A pleasure!
October 11, 2024
I love a good rebus story!
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October 19, 20253 1/2 stars
Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews