What a crazy couple weeks of spring we have had. So much sickness and completely missing school and Easter and friends and possibly spring too. But I’m thankful to have a constant pile of new books to look through. Last week I received this book from Disney-Hyperion in hopes that I could review it, and they also offered a really amazing giveaway to one of my readers. How could I turn that down? Thankfully, we liked the story. So let’s take a look at a fun, summery, ballerina beach book, with a crazy unique twist. Here is Vampirina at the Beach by Anne Marie Pace, picture by LeUyen Pham, 2017. (And stay tuned in the post for the fantastic giveaway!)
This book is the third picture book from these creators about Vampirina. I honestly cannot remember if I’ve read the other two about this little ballerina vampire, but I vaguely remember that I may have. For some reason, I keep confusing her with Zombelina by one of my favorite illustrators, Molly Idle. I know, vampires and zombies are two very different things. So, if you are not super familiar with Vampirina like I’m having trouble being, she is a cute little vampire who has learned ballet despite being a little vampire (in book 1), and she successfully hosted a sleepover (in book 2).
In this book, Vampirina is off to the beach with her family for a night of beach fun and a sweet new friendship. It is a unique twist on a beach picture book as it includes all the beach type stuff we usually read about (and do ourselves on trips), but it takes place with an odd assortment of beach-goers… at night… with some surprising results.
The text is written in a somewhat distanced tone, like a first-person narration without the pronouns, or even one of those old instructional videos on PBS or something. It makes for an interesting read as there are a lot of gaps for the visual reader to fill in about the story. I definitely caution to read slowly and give lots of space for studying the photos and answering questions about what is happening if you have a curious 3 year old like mine.
I myself have never been a big fan of monsters, vampires, or other creepy characters; but my girls love them – when they are cute and not-a-lot, but just-a-teensy-bit scary. This book delivers in that department. There are vampires, witches, mummies, pirates, ghosts, skeletons, werewolves, sea monsters, mermaids, and more. It is a lively, well… maybe deathly is a better descriptor, crew. But, the text doesn’t elude to the odd cast of characters at all. As far as the text is concerned, this is a completely normal beach trip – just at night.
I may not have actually cared much for this book myself had it not been illustrated by LeUyen Pham. I positively adore her illustrations in everything she has done. And Vampirina is no exception. The layouts are fantastic. The colors are vibrant. The characters are perfectly odd and adorable all at once. Her illustration decisions are brilliant, taking an instructional, very straight-forward text and turning it into a hilarious and completely surprising story about this motley crew. Pace and LeUyen have certainly cooked up a brilliantly unique book.
We’ll be enjoying this one a lot this summer, especially in preparation for our own beach trips as this will give a unique, and fun twist on our usual beach-prep reads. But I am also so excited to pass on not only this book, but all THREE Vampirina books to one lucky reader. Humongous thanks to Disney-Hyperion for my own copy and such an extravagant gift to my readers.
Giveaway! [closed]
Thanks to everyone who commented! Betsy was the randomly selected winner. Congrats!
One lucky winner will receive the things pictured above:
- Vampirina Ballerina
- Vampirina Ballerina Hosts a Sleepover
- Vampirina at the Beach
- and a branded beach ball and tumbler!
So fun! To enter, comment below perhaps telling me your favorite beach activity or even your favorite odd, mythical character. Giveaway will be open until Sunday, April 23, 2017 at 11:59pm. I will choose one random winner Monday morning and their vampire beach partying can begin. Good luck and happy reading!
Three Books a Night 
I’ve never heard of this illustrator but I love the idea of monsters and what they do in their ordinary life…I mean of course monsters go to the beach! It makes me think not to treat others differently because we all do normal things.
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I like writing things in the sand.
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I think LeUyen Pham could illustrate the instruction manual to my blender and I’d read it every day. I’ve never been to a “real” beach–I’ve never seen an ocean!–but we do take our kids to lakeside beaches near us. I think my favorite thing about going to the beach is leaving the beach! The sun is setting and the kids are exhausted and it always seems like a day we’ll spent. 🙂
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Good Morning, Whether a story or tale about the beach in St. Joseph MI USA 1952 will bring a book or not, I really enjoy this web page and look for books in our rural public library. Sometimes I have to go out of the MMRLS area to find these books reviewed, yet to an old librarian who found books an escape for herself and the kindergarten through first grade students, a joy in the search.
Fives and six-s are ages where sis and I always got into spats about the throw of a beach ball and cold water of Lake Michigan. The lunch sitting on the picnic table, always caught sis’s eye, while I saw the ball go up the dunes to chase. Around the dunes were plants, I called Mr. Mean and Mrs. Sweet, and always found myself running up and down the dunes onto the beach into the lake and getting wet – sand into the shorts – swimming suit, then throwing the ball to sis while she ate a boiled egg. How did that little round lovely sis catch the ball, with a egg in the other hand? Ha! Big brother was her kicking pal, and I the fives chasing that ball every where. When we got home poison ivy Mr. Mean and the hard sun, cold lake water took their toll on us. Lucky the day was an outing on Saturday, and grandmother was at home to care for the fives and six-s and sorry big brother at sevens. atk
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Thanks for the review, my kids love “spooky” books and I will have to check out this series. We go to the beach on vacation once a year and I have a small collection of beach-themed books I bring on our trips so our reading material matches the scenery. This looks like a great addition to that collection. PS- the collection may or may not be 95% books recommended by my favorite source, threebooksanight!
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My four year old daughter, Sabrina loves Vampirina. We discovered,”Vampirina Ballerina” at our local library. Sabrina immediately fell in love with sweet little Vampirina and felt an instant connection as she too was starting ballet lessons. She is also thrilled that their names rhyme. The story gave Sabrina the little extra courage she needed to begin her lessons. We read the book right before every class. Eventually, I purchased the book which Sabrina donated to the ballet classroom for all the little ballerinas to read. This book truly makes my daughter stand out as a dancer as she is the only ballerina in a sea of pink tutus wearing black. I tell her that it is alright to be a little dancing vampire as long as she does not take a little nip of the other dancers.
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I like swimming the most.
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Thank you for sharing this book. It’s looks like it could be a good one to use for teaching compare and contrast. My favorite beach activity would be swimming in with a good wave. Or eating hush puppies at a good seafood restaurant.
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Love love love playing in the surf.
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Congrats Betsy! You are the winner of the giveaway! I’ll shoot you an email for your info to pass to Disney-Hyperion. Thanks for reading and commenting!
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We just discovered the Vampirina books for our library. Knowing our young patrons, I’m sure they will be popular! I’m new to following your blog and have enjoyed all your posts so far-thanks for your insights. Of course my favorite beach activity is sitting by the water and having a big stack of books to read!
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I love the Vampirina series and am so excited to read this new one. Just in time for gearing up for summer reading!
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Love Vampirina ! Can’t wait to read new one ! Favorite beach activity is sitting by the water and looking for shells.
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We haven’t seen these books yet. Our favorite beach activities are walking on the beach and building sand castles.
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My favorite beach activity is to float on a raft
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