Homeschool Friday - The Haunted Scavenger Hunt

Homeschool Friday is a feature here at Somewhere Only We Know that showcases books my family reads during homeschool and provides a mini-review for each.

The Haunted Scavenger Hunt: A Spook-tacular Storybook

By: Steve Patschke

Illustrator: Roland Garrigue

Expected Publication: July 2, 2024 by Templar

40 pages

Genre: Children's, Humor, Halloween

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon )

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Goodreads description--A delightfully spooky and funny Halloween story

When four friends find a mysterious box with the message “Don’t look at it, don’t touch it, don’t open it!”, they decide that they have to know what’s inside. And so they end up on a haunted Halloween scavenger hunt that leads them to the basement of a spooky house. But one by one, a friend goes missing as the group gets closer to discovering the mystery behind the clues. Will they be able to reach the surprise at the end? This humorous Halloween page-turning story begs to be read aloud again and again.

My kids love scavenger hunts, and they love Halloween. So I thought I would check out this book. Unfortunately, I didn't love it. The illustrations were nice and spooky. Very Halloweenish. But I didn't love the messaging.

Four friends stumble upon a box that says not to open it. They open it. It says not to follow the map. They follow it. They come to a door that says don't open it. They open it. A voice says not to go down the dark hallway. They go down it. They come to a door that again says don't open it. And there's only one friend left by this point. She opens it. But what's at the end of the hunt is a glorious party for the last girl. Since becoming a parent, I'm more interested in the messages that my kids are getting, and I don't love the messaging of doing the opposite of what you're told or asked to do. Of course, the other friends were in on the surprise party. So one could argue that they knew what was waiting for Sarah at the end and they were trying to influence her in a positive direction. But the overall message is to ignore the stop and maybe there's a big happy surprise for you at the end of the journey.

I know, I know...I'm reading too much into this. But I'd rather read a book to my kids where the kids who didn't listen to the stops came face to face with a scary evil monster. Or about kids who listened and got rewarded. Or even about some kids just doing a fun scavenger hunt that may have been a little spooky but they pushed through their fears and were rewarded with a fun party at the end.

The Haunted Scavenger Hunt gets 2 Stars. Have you read The Haunted Scavenger Hunt? What did you think? Let me know!