Jampires

K-Gr 2—Sam is bewildered when he discovers that his jelly doughnut has been sucked dry. Exasperated and determined to solve the mystery, he sets a trap. Using a hamper and a ketchup-filled doughnut, Sam waits. It doesn't take very long to capture the two, small culprits. The prisoners turn out to be "jampires," magical creatures who subsist on jam. The jampires apologize for their thievery, explaining that they are far from home and got hungry. After befriending Sam, they fly him to their homeland. The land of jampires is full of dessert: an enormous jar of jam, mountains of blueberry pie, sherbet snow, ice cream moon, and sponge cake castles. Finally home, the jampires are reunited with their mothers, who are grateful to Sam. They express their thanks via daily baskets of jam-filled doughnuts. The jampires no longer take Sam's jam, but readers should beware. The detailed cartoon illustrations are rendered with pencil and watercolor in a muted palette across full-bleed spreads. Much of the conversation appears in traditional cartoon word bubbles.