Title of Book: Bunnicula; Authors: Deborah Howe and James Howe; ISBN; 978-1-4169-2817-1; Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. Spanish version available. Title: Bonicula; ISBN 978-0613099776; Publisher: Rebound by Sagebrush
Summary: Harold the dog and Chester the cat live peaceably with their family until one dark and stormy night the family brings home a black and white rabbit they name Bunnicula. A white tomato which has been drained of all its juice is the first indication that something is amiss with their new furry friend. Chester tries unsuccessfully to alert the family to the very real possibility that the new family pet is actually a vampire.
My Impressions: Thanks in large part to Stephanie Meyers and the Twilight series, vampire books are hot right now and this one is suited for the elementary crowd (9-11 year olds). The book is written by Harold the dog who begins the story with, “I come to writing purely by chance. My full-time occupation is dog.” A funny story with lots of opportunities for laughing as Chester the cat, armed with a book on vampires, pits himself against Bunnicula. Some of the highlights include the illustration of Chester lying on his back with his arms outstretched trying to look like a vampire and the hysterical misunderstanding of pounding “a sharp steak into the vampire’s heart.” Although the action is fast paced, I found the middle of the story a bit too long. There are three other books in the series, Howliday Inn, The Celery Stalks at Midnight and Nighty-Nightmare.
Flashlight Reading Under the Covers Rating: 3 out of 5
Reviews and Awards:
Young People's Choice Award in 1982. (Source: Bowker's Books in Print)
"Move over, Dracula! This mystery-comedy is sure to delight." -- New York Times (retrieved from Amazon.com)
Suggestions for Use in a Library: Dazzle your library director! Amazingly easy and fun science demonstration is sure to have kids clamoring for more. Although this chapter book is not a good candidate for a main selection, reading a few pages or a chapter would be a great closing for your story time.
A great science tie in would be to do a demo where you take celery stalks and cut them from the bunch into individual stalks (leave the leaves on) and white (must be white) carnations with freshly cut stems and put them in a glass filled with water then add lots of blue food coloring. On a large sheet of chart paper, write the children’s predictions about what they think will happen. Post the chart paper next to the glass with the plants and leave out for a display. Share the results with them during your next story time. (The plants will have drawn in the water with the blue food coloring and will now have blue tinted leaves and petals) Encourage children to write their comments about what happened on the chart paper.
You may want to introduce the younger children (5-8 years old), to James Howe’s Pinky and Rex series.
Summary: Harold the dog and Chester the cat live peaceably with their family until one dark and stormy night the family brings home a black and white rabbit they name Bunnicula. A white tomato which has been drained of all its juice is the first indication that something is amiss with their new furry friend. Chester tries unsuccessfully to alert the family to the very real possibility that the new family pet is actually a vampire.
My Impressions: Thanks in large part to Stephanie Meyers and the Twilight series, vampire books are hot right now and this one is suited for the elementary crowd (9-11 year olds). The book is written by Harold the dog who begins the story with, “I come to writing purely by chance. My full-time occupation is dog.” A funny story with lots of opportunities for laughing as Chester the cat, armed with a book on vampires, pits himself against Bunnicula. Some of the highlights include the illustration of Chester lying on his back with his arms outstretched trying to look like a vampire and the hysterical misunderstanding of pounding “a sharp steak into the vampire’s heart.” Although the action is fast paced, I found the middle of the story a bit too long. There are three other books in the series, Howliday Inn, The Celery Stalks at Midnight and Nighty-Nightmare.
Flashlight Reading Under the Covers Rating: 3 out of 5
Reviews and Awards:
Young People's Choice Award in 1982. (Source: Bowker's Books in Print)
"Move over, Dracula! This mystery-comedy is sure to delight." -- New York Times (retrieved from Amazon.com)
Suggestions for Use in a Library: Dazzle your library director! Amazingly easy and fun science demonstration is sure to have kids clamoring for more. Although this chapter book is not a good candidate for a main selection, reading a few pages or a chapter would be a great closing for your story time.
A great science tie in would be to do a demo where you take celery stalks and cut them from the bunch into individual stalks (leave the leaves on) and white (must be white) carnations with freshly cut stems and put them in a glass filled with water then add lots of blue food coloring. On a large sheet of chart paper, write the children’s predictions about what they think will happen. Post the chart paper next to the glass with the plants and leave out for a display. Share the results with them during your next story time. (The plants will have drawn in the water with the blue food coloring and will now have blue tinted leaves and petals) Encourage children to write their comments about what happened on the chart paper.
You may want to introduce the younger children (5-8 years old), to James Howe’s Pinky and Rex series.
No comments:
Post a Comment