Customer Reviews

Vunce Upon a Time

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
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J.Otto Siebold fans will love this new story of a young vampire learning about Halloween. His fun and fanciful colorful art is in typical J.Otto form and the story by Vivian keeps in his moral telling fashion. Dagmar the vegetarian vampire makes a costume of garlic to go trick-or-treating only for it to be eaten by zombie moths. He then finds that he doesn't need a costume after all and befriends a little ghost. When he sees she is a human in disguise, he realizes humans aren't so terrible after all. Fantastic story, not just for October. And it's not too scary for my two-year-old. I'd also recommend Room on the Broom, by Donaldson.

VUNCE UPON A TIME
by J. Otto Siebold
illustrated by Siobhan Vivian

This is a very cute kid's book about a vampire who loves vegetables and candy. He keeps to himself until he learns that one day every year there is a holiday where kids can get candy - for free! He leaves for a halloween adventure amongst the strange creatures known as "humans"... and finishes his tale with something even more special than candy.

This is one of the better kid's books to come out this year, both in terms of artwork and the pacing of the story. The artwork is unlike a lot of other kid's books in that it has much bolder contrasting colors as opposed to the usual pastel or primary color schemes. They did a great job of using dark colors to make a fun and mysterious world. There is a very cute section where Dagmar (the vampire) is trying on several costumes to wear for halloween. Another great scene in the book shows Dagmar (in bat form) flying above a city of trick or treaters. Kids will love counting all the different kids dressed up as monsters - and a couple of real monsters too!

The story also has a subtext about being afraid of people who seem different to you. It reminded me a little of that old episode of the Twilight Zone where doctors are trying to operate on a woman's face, which you never see. At the end of the episode her bandages are removed to reveal a beautiful woman - but the doctors gasp in horror. After this we see the doctors' faces for the first time, showing that they are twisted and weird and they have been trying to make this woman's face resemble theirs. Dagmar doesn't get that deep, but a lighthearted version of this message is told in only a few pages. Spend some time with Dagmar - you'll be glad that you did!

This book is cute. It's all about Halloween and a little vegetarian vampire who doesn't eat people (afraid of people)who craves candy because he's hungry and his veggies aren't growing fast enough. He learns that he needs to dress up in a costume to go get candy on Halloween night. In the end, he meets and makes friends with a little girl (overcame his fear when she turned out to be quite nice). If your kids are old enough to understand Halloween and trick or treating, then it's a cute story.

This is a wonderfully quirky and unique book for children. It is a vampire tale like no other. Dagmar is bit off for vampires; first he is only a child vampire, second he is a vegetarian and third he is addicted to Candy. Dagmar has problems growing vegetables by moonlight and tending his garden at night, but he supplements his diet with candy - in fact he is something of a candyholic. But his candy supply has run out. But then a skeleton informs him that tomorrow is Hallowe'en and humans give out Candy. Dagmar wants to go trick or treating but he must find a costume, convince his parents and overcome his fear of humans. It is a wonderful story with amazing illustrations.

Story time is extra fun around the holidays, I think. Vunce Upon A Time is an amusing tale about Dagmar, a little vegetarian vampire who ventures out on Halloween. What's not to Love about a Vegetarian Vampire?! He even keeps a vegetable garden--this is a character after my heart. It's hard to grow vegetables by the light of the moon, however, so Dagmar keeps a candy stash. When the candy runs out, he learns about Halloween and decides to participate for the first time. This leads to an adventure and a sweet conclusion.

Vivian's illustrations are vibrant and often on a black backdrop, making them pop out at you. There is one two page spread depicting Halloween night and trick or treating that is especially delightful and has tons of little details that kids love to look at for long periods of time.

This is one of my daughter's favorite books. She's 2 1/2. The art work is so eye popping that I have a hard time finishing a sentence before my daughter will ask me a question about something on the page. Instead of just sitting there, she becomes more involved in the reading process. She has already memorized half the book.

This book is very funny. I bought this book for my classroom but can't seem to read it aloud without giggling myself.

The story is great and the pictures throughout this book are awesome!!! My 2 year old loves this book, but I think my hubby likes it even more. They may fight over this one next year!

I really enjoyed this picture book. Both the story and especially the illustrations are very clever. The art is beautiful and there are many, many little surprise details to spot and enjoy.

Oh, and I'm sure kids will love it, too! ;)

This book is top notch. The story flows well, doesn't have any odd sections that don't seem to fit in the plot etc. Siobhan Vivan's illustrations are remarkable. Seems like she is an illustrator who really puts her heart into EACH and every scene, there is no skimping on color or detail in her work.

It is a cute story that our kids ask us to read again and again.