Helpful Score: 3
I bought this book to put on our hipster-cool shelf of Pride and Predjudice and Zombies (+knockoffs), but I am stopping to review only this one. This one doesn't necessarily have literary merit, but it screams (ha) plenty in the social and subconscious themes it throws out.
The 1960's had its share of monsters-under-the-bed for little Americans reading Dick and Jane: the Russians and the "duck and cover" movies, Vietnam, Zodiac serial killer...but new millenial Americans have a new set of monsters. They see stories about kindergarteners being slaughtered in their classroom (and movies) and practice it at school as "lockdown", they hear people kidding about the zombie apocalypse and their parents tell them that is just a way of saying save stuff in case something really bad happens (REALLY BAD happens??) and they see or hear about Hurricane Katrina, Sandy, 107F, -39F.
Here comes Dick and Jane and Vampires. The book reviewers seem split on whether or not this is a book for kids. This is emphatically a book for kids. The book begins with the vampire hanging around the area. The narrator tells them to Run, Dick, RUN! And other funny lines. It is a humor book. At first they can't see the vampire, then only Sally can, then the kids can but not the parents (or something). But then, the Mom can see the vampire! And it might be a big deal, but the family deals with it. Mom mends the vampire's cloak. She makes the kids cloaks that match the vampire's.
This book is an important book for our new kids. Our kids know that there are bad things out there, and you can't hide those things from them. The best you can do is show that we have to live with them. Dick and Jane, the original, sucked at that.
The 1960's had its share of monsters-under-the-bed for little Americans reading Dick and Jane: the Russians and the "duck and cover" movies, Vietnam, Zodiac serial killer...but new millenial Americans have a new set of monsters. They see stories about kindergarteners being slaughtered in their classroom (and movies) and practice it at school as "lockdown", they hear people kidding about the zombie apocalypse and their parents tell them that is just a way of saying save stuff in case something really bad happens (REALLY BAD happens??) and they see or hear about Hurricane Katrina, Sandy, 107F, -39F.
Here comes Dick and Jane and Vampires. The book reviewers seem split on whether or not this is a book for kids. This is emphatically a book for kids. The book begins with the vampire hanging around the area. The narrator tells them to Run, Dick, RUN! And other funny lines. It is a humor book. At first they can't see the vampire, then only Sally can, then the kids can but not the parents (or something). But then, the Mom can see the vampire! And it might be a big deal, but the family deals with it. Mom mends the vampire's cloak. She makes the kids cloaks that match the vampire's.
This book is an important book for our new kids. Our kids know that there are bad things out there, and you can't hide those things from them. The best you can do is show that we have to live with them. Dick and Jane, the original, sucked at that.
