From My Reading Chair…
Swooshing in, wrapped in a rainbow-spangled cloak of affirmation: “BE BRAVE. BE KIND. BE COLOURFUL.” Dracula Spectacular has turned this review into part love letter, part rallying cry: BE UNASHAMEDLY YOU!
Lucy Rowland’s rhythmic, sing-song prose is a delight to read aloud, again and together. Her expertise in speech and language really shines through every bounce and beat of the story. The words are made to be joined in with, but there is real tenderness thrumming underneath all that lively hubbub of performance.
Ben Mantle wraps Rowland’s words in a richly imagined Addams Family-meets-The Munsters-style world. His character design, colour and abundance of visual details make every reread feel like another chance to be a guest star in this spectacularly gothic family. I am utterly OBSESSED with Dracula Mum’s outfit (to no one’s surprise!) and fully intend to recreate it one Halloween. I have a sneaky suspicion there will be more than a few little vampires demanding rainbow cloaks of their own too!
For me, this is picture-book symbiosis at its most joyful. Rowland brings the irresistible rhythm and Mantle brings the visual spectacle, but the real magic happens in the space where the two dance together.
Not only that, but its message feels especially precious. Children, teenagers (and adults!) are still being made to feel unwelcome simply for being themselves, yet this story refuses to shrink difference into something merely ‘tolerated’. Acceptance arrives when conformity fails, and using vampires to bring that message to ‘light’ is an act of empathetic GENIUS!
A colourful, proper showstopper of a picture book. Firmly added to ‘The Nook’ and every Halloween hamper I can get my claws on.
Creep On Reading, Pumpkins!