Zombiekins

Gr 3—5—Onomatopoeia, puns, and alliteration rule the school in this ghastly gala of gleefully goofy gore by Kevin Bolger (Razorbill, 2010). Stanley Nudelman, a cautious fourth grader, discovers a strange stuffed toy when he and his best friend, Miranda, stop in at a Mrs. Imavitch's yard sale. She reminds Stanley to read the instructions for his creepy new pal, but of course, he does not. The author builds suspense, and then tears it back down, only to build it up again, and tear it down, over and over as the spooky creature—half bunny, half teddy, all bloodthirsty—scares the stuffing out Stanley and Miranda during a couple of extremely eventful days in the little town of Dementedyville. Narrator Johnny Heller is in rare form, moaning and groaning, milking every strangled consonant and mangled vowel, impersonating teachers and students alive and undead, and bringing Bolger's sound effects to eerie life. In fact, due to Heller's excellent work, listening to Zombiekins can be a little scary in places—which cannot be said of the print version. This short and entertaining audiobook will be especially fun at Halloween—and juicy words like macabre, revivified, and piteous will help children build a basic zombie vocabulary.—Paula Willey, Baltimore County Public Library, MD