Vampire Baby

When Tootie gets her first teeth, it’s clear to her big brother that she’s no ordinary baby. But how to convince Mom and Dad?

It happens overnight: little sister Tootie goes from cuddly, ga-ga-googoo, I-want-my-ba-ba baby...vampire baby. Now she’s sinking her pointy fangs into everything — furniture, toys, and especially her big brother (“Youch, Tootie! No bite!” ). Mom insists that it’s just a phase, but Tootie’s brother knows better. Just look at her hairline! Or the fact that all her favorite foods are bloodred! With perfect comic timing, Kelly Bennett and Paul Meisel give a fresh slant to the new-baby story, proving that even monstrous little arrivals have a funny way of staking their siblings’ affections.

Commended for Oklahoma Book Award (Children/Young Adult) 2014

“Simple pen-and-ink and watercolor cartoon illustrations accompany text that may interest a preschool audience with teething younger siblings. --School Library Journal Meisel's illustrations, executed in acrylic, watercolor, collage, pencil, ink and pastel, are full of details that add light, humorous touches to the tale, lending just the right touch of charm. Casting Tootie as a potential vampire gives the well-worn new-baby theme a fresh, comic twist. --Kirkus Reviews Bennett's humorous conversational text plays to realism (i.e., Tootie is a normal teething baby and her brother's imagination is getting the better of him) while Meisel's clean-lined mixed-media illustrations agreeably maintain the baby-as-vampire conceit. --The Horn Book”

Simple pen-and-ink and watercolor cartoon illustrations accompany text that may interest a preschool audience with teething younger siblings.
—School Library Journal

Meisel’s illustrations, executed in acrylic, watercolor, collage, pencil, ink and pastel, are full of details that add light, humorous touches to the tale, lending just the right touch of charm. Casting Tootie as a potential vampire gives the well-worn new-baby theme a fresh, comic twist.
—Kirkus Reviews

Bennett’s humorous conversational text plays to realism (i.e., Tootie is a normal teething baby and her brother’s imagination is getting the better of him) while Meisel’s clean-lined mixed-media illustrations agreeably maintain the baby-as-vampire conceit.
—The Horn Book

Kelly Bennett is the author of many books for children, including Not Norman: A GoldfishStory. Kelly Bennett lives in Houston, Texas.

Paul Meisel is the illustrator of Harriet’s Had Enough! by Elissa Haden Guest, What’s the Matter in Mr. Whiskers’ Room? by Michael Elsohn Ross, Dear Baby by Sarah Sullivan, and many other books, including the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor–winning See Me Run. Paul Meisel lives in Newtown, Connecticut.

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