Mona the Vampire

Sonia Holleyman, together with Hiawyn Oram, is the creator of the super-successful Mona series. Look out for the four Mona short stories publishing together with Mona The Vampire: The Tinned Poltergeist, The Jackpot Disaster, The Big Brown Bap Monster and The Hairy Hands.

Kindergarten-Grade 3-- On Friday night after her mother goes to karate class, Mona's father reads her a story that makes her eyes pop and her blood curdle. On Saturday, she transforms herself into a vampire with her cat Fang as apprentice. The game goes well until Monday when Mona wreaks havoc in her gym class and ballet. A shortcut through the graveyard during a storm induces dreams of witches and ghouls. A pale Mona discards her vampire persona, and that evening, her father reads her a tale ``But this time it was about space invaders.'' This skinny, pop-eyed Mona looks like the kind of kid whose mother would need to know karate. The cartoon scenes fairly overflow with the gruesomeness this age group feasts upon, supplemented by the sort of antics they aspire to. Squashed-fly pie, fang-watering tomato-sauce sandwiches, dripping painted pictures at school, gravestones, lightning, and bats add comic detail and enrich the telling. Children will love this one, and rank Mona with the mischief-making characters created by Prelutsky and Silverstein. --Virginia Opocensky, formerly at Lincoln City Libraries, NE
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.