Today's read... Vampire Baby! by Elias Barks and Zoe Persico

I have the perfect book to start out October and was thrilled to get my eyes on a copy. It's a board book for the youngest readers and has...get ready for this...flaps! Yep, I'm a door, pull, push, lever, or whatever fan. (Why can't adult books have fun things like that?)  

VAMPIRE BABY!

Haley Dell Flap Book

by Elias Barks & 

Zoe Persico

Hazy Dell Press

Board Book

12 pages

ages 2 to 5

It's Halloween night and you're invited to join Vampire Baby in the candlelit halls of a not-so-spooky haunted castle! Vampire Baby! is a lift-a-flap book crawling with Gothic Halloween imagery and creeping with classic Halloween creatures, including a mummy, Frankenstein's Monster, a ghost, and a gargoyle.

Young readers and pre-readers will discover the details of this nonthreatening Halloween castle alongside their Vampire Baby friend with durable, interactive flaps on every spread revealing fun characters and surprises.

DIRECT FROM PUBLISHER: https://hazydellpress.com/products/pre-order-vampire-baby

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Baby-Hazy-Dell-Flap/dp/1948931354

MY TIDBITS

A bit of spook combines with monster fun to make a book with surprises fitting to Halloween.

This is a board book for the youngest readers and circles around all sorts of creatures found during Halloween. The vampire baby is all smiles as it travels through and around the castle, meeting friendly monsters, who carry just enough edge to hint at the darker side of Halloween...without steering into spooky, though. Every 2-page spread holds a door, which is flipped open to discover what is hiding behind the object. 

The entire thing is written in smooth rhyme, which flows very well. It's short and sweet, and makes a fun read-aloud. Or readers can explore this one on their own...and probably will, since the doors are very inviting. 

The illustrations are very detailed and carry a slightly darker hint, which makes it a tiny bit more edgy than other board books I've seen. But it's not overly spooky, either, and sets the tone for the season. Although bright and colorful, the illustrations also keep a night atmosphere, making sure the Halloween tones remain throughout the read.

It's a fun read with really no purpose other than to have a little Halloween search, spooks, and smiles. But then, that's more than enough. Little Halloween fans will enjoy this one.

And here they are...

Author Elias Barks is a writer who lives with his cats, Agnes and Magnus, beneath the gray skies of Astoria, Oregon. He is the author of many beloved children's books, including I Believe in You, I'm Programmed to Love You, Mothman Baby!, and Alien Baby!

Zoe Persico is a prolific artist and illustrator living in sunny Florida with a dog named Zombie. In addition to her books with Hazy Dell Press, Zoe has illustrated books for a variety of publishers including Hachette, Macmillan, Random House, and Simon & Schuster.