Blood!: Not Just a Vampire Drink
by Stacy McAnulty ; illus. by Shawna J. C. Tenney
Primary     Godwin/Holt    40 pp.     g
8/22     978-1-250-30405-6     $18.99

The “I Don’t Vant to Suck Your Blood” smoothie shop is a vegan establishment, but a thirsty vampire fails to notice (although viewers will, courtesy of the comical illustrations), and orders “a pint of your best blood…” The young (vampire) proprietor launches into an enthusiastic explanation of why blood is “too important to humans for us just to drink it,” describing how it travels through the cardiovascular system and why. Meanwhile, the elder vampire grows increasingly desperate: “Vhen does it flow into my mouth?” As in McAnulty’s Brains!: Not Just a Zombie Snack, accessible text and art balance lightly macabre humor with clear information, making the biology lesson easy to swallow. A “Dear Blood-Filled Reader” note, additional facts, and a source list are appended.

From the September/October 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.