A Treat in Hand: The Haunted House by Peter Lippman

A black gate swings open,
A sign says "BEWARE!"
But I enter the house
That no others will dare

Of course, you do. With Peter Lippman's irresistible little movable book, The Haunted House (Mini House Book), nobody with an ounce of curiosity, child or adult, could help unfolding this small creepy mansion to see what adventures lie therein.

On the roof hungry bats
Catch their dinner in midair.
In the attic I dodge
A huge spider's wispy snare.

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As the cleverly constructed little minibook is unpacked, more creepy characters are revealed--"creepy arms everywhere," a Frankenstein monster's scare.

Then, at last, the scene opens to the bedroom, where the reader discovers where it all arises:

I flee to the bedroom.
There's something worse there!
And then I wake up
From a silly nightmare!

The story literally "unfolds" in the ingenious diecut design, in which each section is "unnotched" and spread apart to reveal the next scene in the action. Lippman's creative construction, illustrative skill, and rhyming text make The Haunted House (Mini House Book), the perfect tricky treat (that's not a sweet) for a special someone's Halloween bag.

Other intriguing books in this series by Lippman include Mother Goose's House (Mini House Book), The Enchanted Castle (Mini House Book), Mini Wheel Books: School Bus, and that perfect stocking stuffer, Santa's Workshop (Mini House Book).