*UPDATE* BookBairn is adoring this book even more this year! She can now interact with it better by saying what she sees under the flaps...

Spook-tacular

Thursday, October 29, 2015 BookBairn 19 Comments

*UPDATE* BookBairn is adoring this book even more this year! She can now interact with it better by saying what she sees under the flaps, like "cat" and "bat" and is making good attempts at saying pumpkin and skeleton too! But most definitely her favourite page has to be the scene where she lifts the toilet seat to discover a gremlin and she shouts "aahhhhh" and grins with delight! Such a great read! I highly reccomend it! Hope you like the new photos.


 Mummy and Spook-Bairn xx


Halloween is nearly upon us! And our house is becoming a bit of a spooky house as I unearth the decorations usually reserved for my classroom but since this year I'm on maternity leave they are going up at home (poor Daddy BookBairn!).

We have one last Halloween book to share with you, it's spook-tacular! 'Spooky House' by Aimee Chapman, Hannah Cockayne and Amy Oliver with illustrations by Dan Crisp.

Spooky House is a ghostly journey through the many rooms of a house, which has been taken over by everything from witches to vampires to skeletons, finally concluding at Halloween party and features multiple lift-the-flaps in every scene. BookBairn loves a lift-the-flap book and I couldn't resist picking this book up for her. It has several small flaps on every page to explore revealing creepy characters and ghoulish creatures. Given the number of flaps on each page they are relatively small (in comparison to the lift-the-flap books that BookBairn is familiar with) and I worried that she might struggle to open them easily but as you can see from the photos once the flaps were loosened from the backing she has absolutely no bother flipping them back and forth. What a great way to develop her hand-eye co-ordination, which is becoming so vital to her as she learns to feed herself (she is beginning to develop that pincer grip required for picking up small pieces of food). And these smaller flaps will no doubt be helping in that development.

The illustrations in the book are spine-chillingly and hair-raisingly delightful! Whilst all of the characters are typical Halloween ghouls, they are more enchanting than bewitching! The characters are delightfully named, such as Skelly Bob, Willa the witch, Bogey Monster adding to the captivating magic of the book. There is not much of a story to the book, we simply journey through each room of the house to the party finale; however, each page treats you to a lovely rhyming couplet about the characters featured. The text is clearly beyond BookBairn at this stage but I am certain that older toddlers would love the imaginative and creative rhymes. I love that it also includes some questions and challenges readers to find things hidden under the flaps, further engaging children and also creating a conversation between the story-teller and the reader.

I was also surprised to discover that under each flap there was not only an illustration but some text on the reverse of the flap adding a little bit more information to the discovery for older readers. I particularly like the hidden bat cave and the clarification of what disgusting and despicable things Willa is cooking in the kitchen.


This book is aimed at slightly older toddlers than BookBairn (2+) but as always she has enjoyed discovering a new book, and playing with the lift-the-flaps. However, I look forward to future Halloweens where we can really sink our (vampire) teeth into this one!

Happy Halloween! Mummy and BookBairn x



19 comments:

  1. I love it. I particularly like the photos of my lovely wee GrandBookBairn (but I'm biased). Has she got any new vampire teeth for Halloween?

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  2. Actually she has! The second top front tooth broke through last night. What a spooky coincidence! ;0

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  3. That does look fun. My son loves lift the flap books, always a hit here! Thanks for sharing with #WotW

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    1. Thank you! And thanks for hosting a wonderful linky. I've had time today to read through all of the links!

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  4. Sounds like a really fun book, I think the flap books are always a big hit with little ones.
    BookBairn is a cutie :) x #WotW

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    1. Thank you! We love lift-the-flaps but also recently got into slide-and-seek books by Jo Lodge! Fab for a change from life-the-flaps http://bookbairn.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/click-tweet-peek-boo.html

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  5. Fab word and just love her outfit. Glad you've found a use for those classroom decorations too :) #wotw

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    1. Yeah, Daddy BookBairn is not so sure about the decor! But it's only for a few days! The outfit is a wee asda number, trying to get lots of wear out of it this week!

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  6. Aww! What a lovely sounding book....It looks like you are really getting into the spirit of things! Happy Halloween x

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    1. It's a fab book! Perhaps a bit too spirited but I guess it's all because we have a wee person to celebrate and enjoy it with. Can't imagine what Christmas will be like!

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  7. Oh bless she certainly is darling. That is one spooktacular book and I just know my girls would love it!xx

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    1. I have loved reading these spooky books to BookBairn over Halloween. Looking forward to the next season (but can't start that til December really!). Fortunately there are plenty great books to fill the gap!

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  8. Awww she looks adorable, and lift flaps are really good for young uns X

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    1. Thank you! She is adorable (biased mummy talking)!

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  9. Aww what a lovely book, my niece would of loved this she is 2 and a half and totally got into the spirit of halloween this year!

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  10. Very apt word for this time of year and she looks so cute in the photos. Spooky House sounds like a good book with the flaps - it's enough to get them interested in the concept of Halloween but with lots of hidey bits to be discovered. Lovely post
    xx
    #WoTW

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  11. Never mind the kids, I love a good lift the flap book! This one looks like a lovely book, I'll have to keep an eye out for it for my youngest :) Thanks for linking up with #sundaystars x

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  12. It's great that SpookBairn can still appreciate the same book a year later but in a more advanced way.

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    1. She's a clever cookie and it's fascinating what difference a year makes!

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