The House that Drac Built
Will was aware that some of these monsters, such as the fiend and the manticore, would be new to young readers and he carefully researched them to make the introduction authentic. The arrival of each one fills the page with such a dominating presence that only an astute reader may notice the careful clue that predicts what character might spring full-blown when the page is turned. Will has made Drac's house old and delapidated not through darkness and cobwebs, but through layers of color and texture that wash the entire scene, including the characters, in an antique patina. The story literally unravels as the reader winds through the house following the trail of curling tails, paws, tongues, mummy wrappings and even spaghetti. When the children arrive, Will pulls back to a broader scene; all at once the creatures and children become a small community and the kindness of the trick-or-treaters restores order to Drac's house.
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In Judy Sierra’s twist on the traditional cumulative story, Jack becomes Drac and his house is already built and inhabited by unfamiliar creatures. With a fleeting bat as guide, the reader is led through the house step by step and turn by turn as a new creature makes a dramatic entrance on each page.
 Starting From Sketch Inside the Picture Book of Will Hillenbrand
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Reviews
From Booklist , September 15, 1995: Ages 5--7. As might be expected, the house that Drac built isn't quite the same as the one built by Jack, but the rhyme winds and unwinds with the same force and structure in both their stories. In Drac's house, everything begins when a cat bites a bat, and it isn't till a group of children in Halloween costumes visits the house that everything is put to rights--from soothing "the fearsome manticore" to bandaging the bat. Hillenbrand's monsters are quite detailed, but even at their rowdiest, they aren't truly terrifying. They're more like costumed children who are grumpy and out of control. Good for a seasonal story hour. Mary Harris Veeder Copyright© 1995, American Library Association. All rights reserved From Horn Book: This cumulative tale borrows from the schematic structure of the popular nursery rhyme The House That Jack Built to deliver a few shivers. Readers are introduced to the bat that lived in the house that Drac built, then to the cat that bit the bat, and so on, until a knock on the door brings forth a gaggle of costumed children. The oil and pastel illustrations add a zesty dollop of suspense to a familiar story line. -- Copyright © 1996 The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.
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