Customer Reviews

Vampire Boy's Good Night

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My first grader loves Halloween (as does mom) and with it being October and all, we've been reading Halloween-themed books these past couple of weeks. We have our favorites, but it is nice to come across some unfamiliar titles that are a deliciously spooky treat! Vampire Boy's Goodnight falls into the latter category - it is a charming tale of a real boy vampire, Bela (erm, tribute to Bela Lugosi perhaps? He is an iconic figure in horror movies Dracula (75th Anniversary Edition Universal Legacy Series), his rendition of Dracula having given me nightmares as a young girl).

Bela rises from his coffin one evening and goes off for a 'playdate' with his best friend, Morgan the witch. They clamber onto a broomstick and are off into the dark night, on a quest to find 'real' children as Morgan is not convinced of their existence. The pair land near a home which appears to be hosting some sort of party. Initially Bela and Morgan think the strangely-attired children are just like them, real 'monsters', but soon enough they come to realize that it is all in the spirit of Halloween!

There's a cute little twist at the end and there's bits of humor throughout. The vibrant illustrations credibly evoke the spooky and fun Halloween atmosphere and make this the perfect read on a cozy October evening.

I was first a little concerned about whether this would be a little scary for my kids. But that was just because I didn't really know where the story would go. It turned out to be a super cute book about a vampire boy and his friend, the witch, who want to see human children. They end up at a Halloween costume party and aren't sure where the human children are. At the end the children take off their costumes and they see that they are human children and they fly off home for the night as the children look on.
The illustrations are great! My daughter (5) looked through the book over and over because she loved seeing what each child was dressed up as. She's really into Halloween and so I was so happy to get a Halloween book to review.
It's a quick read, and is fun to read which is a huge bonus to me. There's not really any big words and it's easy for even the youngest children to understand.
This is one I'll bring out year after year around Halloween for us to enjoy.
I give it 5/5 for story and for illustrations. I highly recommend!

This book is a lot of fun. The artwork is absolutely beautiful and so evocative of all that Halloween should be: whimsical scariness, costumes, and bare trees stretching out into the darkness.

Bela is a real little vampire and Morgan is a real little witch. They head out (on Morgan's broom of course!) on Halloween night to find some children to watch. Bela is trying to convince Morgan that children are real and not made up. It's a cute story that could definitely serve to get them more excited about Halloween.

One thing I noticed about this book is that it's a great easy reader. Some picture books that are made for reading aloud have longer more complex sentences and vocabulary. This one has short sentences and easier words, which means a younger reader could enjoy it quite easily on his own.