From Publishers Weekly
There's nothing like a series to keep kids turning pages. Bunnicula's family is back, and Uncle Harold steps aside to let Howie, the family dachshund, tell all in It Came from Beneath the Bed!, the first in the Tales from the House of Bunnicula series by James Howe, illus. by Brett Helquist. The inaugural adventure finds the doggy fighting off a marauding stuffed animal culled from the clutter. In Book 2, Invasion of the Mind Swappers from Asteroid 6!, Howie must save Delilah from aliens and thwart their plan to take over the planet. With Helquist's illustrations and a tongue-in-cheek note to readers on the back of the book, the unjacketed hardcovers bear a strong resemblance to Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. For Beach Reading... Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6-Yet another canine member of the Monroe menagerie flirts with literary glory in this mock horror tale. Harold, the "sad-eyed, droopy-eared" stories-must-be-told narrator of previous adventures, defers to his "nephew" to script this series, and the books turn out to be unexpected how-to-write-a-story primers. Harold serves as Howie's experienced editor who offers (often hilariously unheeded) advice and sage insight into a writer's lonely, compulsive, roller-coaster life. His timeless "write what you know" pearl transforms into a narcissistic, Woody Allenesque parody of a detective novel in which literary license has obviously been revoked. Howie revises as Harold criticizes and the story about conquering a ravenous stuffed koala bear that has come to life takes off. Notebook-like "Howie's Writing Journal" pages are interspersed throughout the text to apprise readers of his tortuous writing process. These "tales" could easily become the standard textbook for creative-writing classes.John Sigwald, Unger Memorial Library, Plainview, TXCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Reviewed with James Howe's Invasion of the Mind Swappers from Asteroid 6! Gr. 3-6. What's a precocious wirehaired dachshund named Howie doing keeping a journal and writing books? As a member of the fabled Monroe family of Bunnicula fame, he's aspiring to be like Harold, resident dog author and honorary uncle. In It Came from beneath the Bed! Howie makes a bold foray into writing (with advice from Harold) in an adventure about a stuffed koala that assumes monstrous proportions when he accidentally ingests some of Pete Monroe's science-project potion. In Mind Swappers, Howie concocts an sf tale about invading aliens who take over the personalities of earthlings. The chapters alternate between Howie's journal, filled with droll observations and tongue-in-cheek humor that stem from Harold's writing instruction, and chapters in Howie's own tales. Real author Howe has provided elementary students with an ingenious lesson in how to write, seamlessly blended with two first-rate tales starring a whimsical protagonist. Anne O'Malley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
Dear possible reader of this book, After I wrote my first book, It Came from Beneath the Bed!, my editor asked me to write another one. (Another one! This is hard work! I'd like to see him write another one!) So anyway...in this book the lovable and smart (not to mention talented) wirehaired dachshund puppy named Howie and his friend, the beautiful and brilliant Delilah, face their biggest challenge yet: the Mind Swappers from Asteroid 6!™ Along the way Delilah gets turned into a squirrel and has to beg for acorns. (Hey, don't ask me! Read the book!) Your friend, Howie


Card catalog description
With help from his Uncle Harold, who wrote books about Bunnicula, Howie the wire-haired dachshund writes a story in which he saves the world from a science experiment gone awry.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Dear possible reader of this book,

After I wrote my first book, It Came from Beneath the Bed!, my editor asked me to write another one. (Another one! This is hard work! I'd like to see him write another one!) So anyway...in this book the lovable and smart (not to mention talented) wirehaired dachshund puppy named Howie and his friend, the beautiful and brilliant Delilah, face their biggest challenge yet: the Mind Swappers from Asteroid 6!™ Along the way Delilah gets turned into a squirrel and has to beg for acorns. (Hey, don't ask me! Read the book!)