Pumpkin and Beetle: Two Vampire Cats
by Jannie Ho; illus. by the author
Primary    Holiday    80 pp.
8/25    9780823459629    $16.99
Paper ed.  9780823461585    $6.99

In this comic for newly independent readers, Pumpkin and Beetle are vampire cats (not kittens, thank you very much), and they desperately want the latest Frightfuls comic book. But they don’t have the $6.66 necessary to purchase it. With their ghost cat friend, Boo, they come up with several ways to raise the money. Unfortunately, no one wants to shop at their crabapple stand or buy their “well-done” crabapple muffins. A serendipitous encounter with bookstore owner Mrs. Owl, who’s in need of crabapples for an apple-bobbing station, solves their dilemma. Ho primarily uses one- and two-syllable words to make her work accessible to young chapter-book readers, with occasional more challenging words (Hallowville, elementary). She effectively uses a mix of single-page illustrations, double-page spreads, and different-sized panels to keep the visual interest high. Fittingly, her digital illustrations frequently feature the colors orange and black. But there’s nothing here that will give anyone a real fright; even the witches look friendly. Ho treats us to a few pages of the Frightfuls comic once the cats get their paws on a copy, and readers will likely enjoy this mildly spooky mystery. A recipe for “mew-gical muffins” is appended.

From the September/October 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.