Vampenguin

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.