A review by Nalini Haynes
ISBN: 9781629147697
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing (distributor: New South Books)
Format: board book, 178x127mm, 26 pages
The Very Thirsty Vampire is a board book with a simple story about a vampire who needs a drink, spoofing the Very Hungry Caterpillar. This book has layers, onion-boy; the text talks about the drinks various people — bartenders, wine stewards, soda jerks and so on — serve him, but the images show puncture marks on their necks. When the very thirsty vampire consults ‘his own kind’, the characters aren’t actually — not literally — vampires.
Note: the above cover omits the blood-spattered warning label that reads “Warning: not for human children”. There is also a disclaimer on the inside cover.
The text is rather small for a children’s book and the font is not a traditional font for children learning to read. Instead of a sans-serif font like Arial, it’s a serif font. As the characters the vampire meets are not within the expected reading vocabulary of a young child anyway, the font type and size are rather moot points.
The Very Thirsty Vampire is a book for parents and grandparents to read to their littlies. Like a family movie, the layers give the alleged grown-ups a giggle, thus enhancing the experience for everyone. The finale is extra-special with a pop-up surprise.
I highly recommend The Very Thirsty Vampire, especially as an All Hallows Read.
Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5 stars
