Vampenguin
Vampenguin
On Saturday, the Dracula family woke up extra early so they could beat the weekend crowds to the zoo.
After a short wait in line, they made their way through the turnstiles.
Their first stop was always the Penguin House.
The room was chilly, dark, and full of visitors.
The Dracula family visits the zoo one weekend, and they immediately go to see the penguins, but little do they realize that the youngest Dracula has swapped places with a penguin! With remarkably similar attire, no one notices the difference! As the family meanders through the zoo, all the animals try to tell them that their baby is actually a penguin, but, alas, the Draculas still do not notice. At the end of the day, the Draculas make one last stop to get a photo souvenir, and it just so happens this stop is back by the Penguin House, perfect for baby Dracula to swap places again with the penguin. It was a lovely day at the zoo, but perhaps a little more eventful for some.
What a unique picture book! Vampenguin will delight adults and children alike as the words and the illustrations tell two different stories, and so a lot of conversation can happen during the reading. The contradiction between the words and illustrations demonstrates a wry sense of humour; for example, “Outdoors, the Draculas first saw the tiger; then the elephants; then the monkeys; and finally, the lion.” Reading that sentence, you would assume the illustrations show each animal when, in fact, the illustrations show a tiger tail peeking out from behind a rock, an elephant trunk also peeking out, monkey tails coming out of a dark cave, and then a massive wall of people presumably looking at the lion that the Draculas cannot see. The words are simple, but the pictures give a whole different and funny perspective. The artwork has kind of a watercolour/chalk appearance, and the beautiful, muted colours help to keep the focus on what is being depicted. The book has a sturdy quality to it, and, because the paper is thick and easy to grab, this book should hold up a little more with rough handling (especially as you flip back and forth once you catch on that something different is happening with the pictures).
A very fun and clever read with gorgeous illustrations, Vampenguin is a great addition to collections and should prompt lots of giggles at storytime.
Stephanie Johnson is an alumna of the University of Alberta School of Library and Information Studies and is the Director of Devon Public Library in Devon, Alberta.