If you were an escaped convict, where would you choose to hide from the law? Be warned, The Halloween House is not a good choice. This delightful, rhyming counting book gleefully guides children from one nocturnal creature family to another, starting with a litter of ten werewolves. "In the Halloween house,/in a dark, dingy den .../a papa werewolf crouched/with his little ones, ten./"Howl," said the papa./"We howl," said the ten./So they howled through the night/in the dark, dingy den." This eerily mesmerizing rhyme scheme repeats throughout the book as nine vampires rise, eight worms squirm, seven bats swoop, six ghosts boo, five monsters chase, four skeletons dance, three spiders swing, two cats pounce, and one witch flies. As the book ends, all the creatures vanish--except, of course, for the two escaped convicts, who end up finding a much safer hiding place. Jon Agee, illustrator of Dmitri the Astronaut, delights young readers again with his artfully cartoonish paintings; this time his paintings show the dilapidated, spooky, but oddly festive Halloween house and its lively inhabitants. With a rhyme scheme that remotely echoes Madeline, a counting pattern that mirrors "Ten Little Indians," and a song-like structure reminiscent of The Twelve Days of Christmas, The Halloween House may become a classic in its own right. (Great read-aloud and picture book for ages 3 and older)