Little Vampire Goes to School

I loved this book as a 1st grader, and even though I'm in high school now, this book is still my favorite. The overall concept is excellent- If at first you don't succeed, try and try again.

Little Vampire is sensitive and fun. The artwork is terrific. I will read this with my 2 year old grandson when he is a little older. I know he will enjoy the story and ask lots of questions. Even a yougster will figure out the metaphors of the characters and plot.

Little Vampire lives in a great big mansion and while he has the ability to change into a rat, a wolf, or a bat, he is a sad Little Vampire. That is because even though he does not have to follow rules and does not have to do anything he does not want to do, Little Vampire wants to go to school. The ghosts are aghast at such an idea and even his mother's reminder that he has his dog, Phantomat to play with, cannot stop Little Vampire from wanting to go to school. So one night Little Vampire and Phantomat head off to the school at the edge of town. It has a playground with swings, wooden hooks in the hallway for hanging up coats, and on each desk there is a notebook with a child's name on it. But there are no students and Little Vampire's name does not appear on any of the notebooks. Little Vampire comes to the conclusion that students only go to school in broad daylight and at night there is nobody at the school. Now, that could be a cute little story just by itself, but that is just the opening of Joann Sfar's "Little Vampire Goes to School." The Captain of the Dead decides that if Little Vampire wants to go to school he should have the opportunity. So all of the ghosts go to school each night and the Captain teaches school. This could also be a nice payoff to this story, but we are not even halfway through, because the Captain has one rule for his class. The ghosts had to bring their own school supplies so they would not write in any of the "daytime" students' notebooks. However, Little Vampire does not care and decides he is going to write in the notebook of a student named Michael who forgot to do his homework and gets quite a surprise when his teacher makes him open his notebook to read what it is he did not write. This is a marvelous story, originally published in France as "Petit Vampire va à l'école" (and there is even a video version of the story, which makes me jealous), and translated by Mark and Alexis Siegel. My description of the book's narrative thread ends before the halfway point and there is much more of the tale to tell (such as what you have to wear when you stand in the corner because you rely on others to do your assignments for them). Sfar matches the marvelous story with delightful drawings, which is often where such stories fall short of reaching classic status. I like the simplicity of the Little Vampire's appearance along with the wonderful look of the Captain of the Dead and many of the other ghosts. The only downside is that Sfar refuses to tell you what a hemzalleh is even though it is very yummy and you have to stop reading the book and get on line to find out what it is (I had to do it; you have to do it). But the good news is that there are more stories about the Little Vampire and I have "Little Vampire Does Kung Fu!" sitting on the shelf to be read next and find out more about our young hero and his new friend. This book had earned five stars before I got halfway through it and it just kept

I really loved the artwork, it reminded me of Edward Gorey, and the way the book is written, older children will think it's cool and funny. There is a great, simple message, but it's not didactic. As a teacher, I think boys will like this book, especially older boys who like to draw strange creatures. The cartoon style makes it very readable. What I liked most about this book is the fact that it speaks to children without talking down to them. Perhaps this is partly to do with the fact that it was originally written in French...

This book is one of my most favorite children book. One can't feel astonished by the emotion carried by this tiny piece of art. The drawings are full of color, funny and cute. The story is so delicate, subtile. A real nice story of an impossible friendship which becomes reality. A sweet-bitter comics for everybody.

I enjoy comics, and this one is high quality, literate, and under the Gorey-like macabre world of the Little Vampire, is a very tender and funny story about friendship. But I didn't immediately realize just HOW popular this book can be with the young crowd.I first read it to a six year old niece of mine who was -- literally -- howling with laughter half the time!Then I gave it to my neighbor's 9 year old son for his birthday -- and he has already lent it to all his friends. i've given three others to 10 and 12 year olds, and they go berserk over it. So if you feel like making yourself popular and cool with the young ones, this book is the ticket.It also deals with difficult emotions like grief and loneliness, but stays playful and goofy at the same time. And the dialog is really intelligent. So yes FIVE STARS for the (adorable) Little Vampire.