somewhere in the middle: humor

Monday, June 13, 2011

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Zombiekins

I picked this book up from a Scholastic book order and had no idea how popular it would be with my kids. Even my younger daughters were drawn to the cover, the great illustrations, and the mysterious Zombiekins. When I started reading this, my 5 and 3 yr olds cuddled up close and asked me to read it out loud. Within a couple of pages I had all my daughters around me and I read till my mouth went dry. My MMGM pick:

Zombiekins by Kevin Bolger

published in June 2010

Other books by the author:

Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger

Zombiekins 2 (coming out sometime this year)

The Hook: When 4th grader Stanley buys an odd stuffed animal from the widow Imavitch's yard sale, he has no idea it will come alive and turn the kids at school into zombies.

Why I love this book: humor and age-appropriate zombies. Any zombie stuffy who rips Winnie the Pooh, Elmo and Barney to shreds on his first night is my kind of zombie. When Zombiekins (half bunny/half rabid teddy bear) starts biting kids at school and turning them into ridiculous zombies, my kids and I were laughing on every page. Zombies are crazy slow and stupid and Bolger plays this up. It reminds me of the zombie satire movie Sean of the Dead: clever and hilarious. This book is for younger middle graders and it's definitely a boy book but girls will love it too. (I have four zombiekins super fans as proof.) Seriously, I heart Zombiekins, I'm excited for book 2.

Want More? Go to his fabulous Zombiekins website for book trailers, excerpts, news...seriously, kids will love it. Great example of an author site for younger MG. Not convinced? The Book Aunt has another great review.

Other MMGMers (go, they always have great picks):

I'm not a big zombie reader, I prefer zombie satire. I don't get the scary element of brain-dead, snail-paced, dull-teethed monsters. How about you? Do you read Zombies?