Inside a House That is Devastated

Long ago (a decade ago), in a land far, far away (DeKalb, IL), we made one of our all time favorite Scholastic Book Club purchases. We bought a tape and book set of Alyssa Satin Capucilli's Inside a House That is Haunted. I think, originally, I thought that it would be a good thing to bring along on road trips so my oldest son could listen to the tape and turn the pages on his own.

What I hadn't expected was the enduring appeal this book has held for my sons. Even with my oldest son, I found that we listened to the book often at home. Despite the Halloween theme, it was requested throughout the year. Of course, when Trevor came along, with his obsession for all things having to do with Halloween (and dressing up), he became an instant fan.

Sean is the cutest of all, for me. I love to listen as he parrots along with the introduction and the song, written and performed by Steve Blane. He begins with the title and his little voice pipes up with "A Rebus Read-Along Story. Written by Alyssa Satin Capucilli. Illustrated by Tedd Arnold." Then the song begins ... "Here is a house that is haunted. Here is the hand that knocked on the door, inside a house that is hauuuuuunnnnteddd." He loves that drawn-out word.

As the story goes along, the knock on the door sets off a chain-reaction of events with each page adding another Halloween character. The spider drops to the floor, frightening the ghost who cries "Boo," surprising the cat that screeches "Mew" etc. Finally, the skeleton wakes the monster who opens the door to discover a smaller version of himself. When the mini-monster removes his mask and yells "Trick-or-Treat," all of the inhabitants run away in fear.

A few weeks ago, my husband held both of the little boys on his lap as they listened to this book for the umpteenth time. I snapped a few pictures. As I did so, I thought to myself, "This is such a great book, I should make a video of them listening to this and post it on my blog." But, I didn't want to inconvenience him and ask him to start over.


You know what's coming, don't you? Last night, Sean reveled in the new found freedom of his toddler bed. With Trevor already asleep, he got out of bed and proceeded to pull all of the tape out of the cassette for our beloved Inside a House That is Haunted.

When we discovered it this morning, Trevor dissolved into tears. He couldn't believe his brother had done something so horrible to one of his favorite story tapes. He was ready to pummel his brother good and hard, until I reminded him that he did the same thing to our Mickey Mouse sing-along-songs tape, back when he was two-years-old. Even still, I had to assure him that I would look for another copy on E-bay or something while he was at school today.

I actually spent three hours consumed with the search for another copy. I started with Scholastic. The operator who answered my call, offered to check with another office where they might be able to secure items no longer listed as available for purchase. Sadly, she came on to tell me that they couldn't help me. Her suggestion? Make a new recording of our own, with me singing the lyrics. Somehow, I'm guessing she's never really listened to Steve Blane's performance. There isn't a way in the world my voice could compete with that.

I tried E-bay, but only found copies of the book (in fact, I was surprised that one seller listed the book for $20.00 Buy-it-now). I tried Craigslist. I tried Amazon. I tried our local library, the DeKalb library and the library near Grandma. No luck anywhere.

Next, I began to search for tape restoration services. Since repair and transfer of the broken tape contents would cost $25, I began thinking I might have to make a photocopy of our own book and then list it on E-bay for $20, so that I could afford this hefty replacement fee.

Finally, I searched for Steve Blane himself and gave him a call. He explained that Scholastic purchased all rights to the song and its production, but only offered the tapes for about two years. He did offer to ask his partner, Richard DeRosa, to see if they might still have the master somewhere, but he suspected that he may have tossed in when cleaning up their offices.

I also wrote to the author. I was delighted to receive a kind and prompt reply from her this afternoon. She has also been attempting to secure further copies for other parents, teachers and educators who are interested in this book and tape set. She graciously agreed to see what she could do to help me.

My next step will be to petition the Scholastic Book company to re-issue this delightful audio version. Indeed, I think they would do well to bring back many of those old classics they used to offer on audio cassettes. It would be wonderful to have a CD chock full of Alyssa Satin Capucilli's Inside series (the other two books are: Inside a Zoo in the City and Inside a Barn in the Country), plus some of our favorite David McPhail books (we love Those Can Do Pigs, also composed and performed by Steve Blane).

If you are a fan of children's picture books on audio, perhaps you would consider sending a note to Scholastic, asking them to bring back this delightful opportunity for young readers. I may have to check with my former colleagues at Littlejohn Elementary and see if any of those teachers might still have a copy. Somehow, I'm doubting they'll be willing to part with it. I wouldn't have parted with mine and am, indeed, kicking myself for not putting it up out of the 2 year old's reach!

I did notice that my mother-in-law can access the book and tape for Inside a Barn in the Country through her library. I'm guessing the next time we're in town, I'll ask her to request that. We have the "Zoo in the City" book, but no tape. I wonder if they produced a tape for that one, as well.

For now, be assured that our tape player and all book and story tapes are put up on a high shelf in the closet of their room. In fact, Sean is snoozing away in the crib this evening, because I moved his toddler bed into our guest room for my visiting brother and sister-in-law and their three kids. That'll teach him!

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Thankful to the author, Alyssa Satin Capucilli, for locating and sending us another copy of the tape. Here's my blog post where I acknowledge how much she rocks!

Thankful for a comment by an anonymous reader who directed me to You Tube. This is the best version on You Tube, despite the poor audio, because it shows each page as it is being read (all of the other ones simply provide the image of the cover of the book):