Blood! Not Just a Vampire Drink

by Stacy McAnulty, Shawna J. C. Tenney (Illustrator)

Overview

From Stacy McAnulty, author of the entertaining and informative STEM picture book series Our universe, which includes Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years, and Mars! Earthlings Welcome, comes an exciting picture book series focused on the science of the body. First up was Brains! Not Just a Zombie Snack, and now we have Blood! Not Just a Vampire Drink, with illustrations by Shawna J. C. Tenney, author-illustrator of Pirates Don't Dance!

Welcome to I Don’t Vant to Suck Your Blood Smoothie Shop, where all products are 100% blood-free!

That’s good news for humans, but bad news for a thirsty vampire who just wants a pint of O-positive. With a little help from a friend, he’ll realize that blood isn’t a beverage. Humans need it! Blood delivers oxygen and nutrients, helps fight off infections, and so much more. So grab Blood! Not Just a Vampire Drink and a pineapple-spinach smoothie, and find out why blood is such a fabulous fluid.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250304056
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	08/30/2022
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	10.40(w) x 10.30(h) x 0.35(d)
Lexile:	AD580L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Stacy McAnulty is the author of many books for children, notably the nonfiction picture book series Our Universe, which includes titles, Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years, Mars! Earthlings Welcome, and Moon! Earth's Best Friend, among others. She's also the author of picture books Brains! Not Just a Zombie Snack, A Small Kindness, Beautiful, Brave, and Love, and she writes books for middle grade readers including The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl and Millionaires for the Month. Stacy lives in North Carolina with her family and as many dogs as she can sneak in the house.

Shawna J. C. Tenney wonders if having type A+ blood helps her to make A+ artwork (hey, it’s possible! Okay, probably not). When she isn’t draining the life out of chocolate bars, she can be found in her studio creating stories like her author-illustrated picture books, Pirates Don’t Dance! and Brunhilda’s Backwards Day. She lives in Utah with her two kids, two cats, and one husband.

Editorial Reviews

"Entertaining and informative." —Kirkus

"Accessible text and art balance lightly macabre humor with clear information, making the biology lesson easy to swallow..." —Hornbook

From the Publisher

2022-05-11
Why do humans make blood, if not for thirsty vampires?

McAnulty teams up with illustrator Tenney to follow up her Brains! Not Just a Zombie Snack (2021) with a closer look at blood—specifically, human blood. Two movie-style vampires (pointy ears, widow’s peaks, and prominent canine teeth) engage in a funny yet edifying discussion about this essential liquid. The taller, older, purplish vampire, amusingly dressed in a pinstripe suit, really just wants to drink someone’s blood. They’ve walked from their spooky hilltop castle and bellied up to the bar at the “I Don’t Vant To Suck Your Blood Smoothie Shop,” having misread what’s on offer. To the older vampire’s dismay, the younger, shorter, rounder, blue-skinned one states that blood is more important to humans and belongs “in the cardiovascular systems” rather than in smoothie blenders. The little vampire clearly describes why blood is essential for human bodies; how it moves around the body via arteries, arterioles, and capillaries; what’s in it (white and red blood cells, plasma, and platelets); and what these components do (white blood cells fight disease). The tall vampire’s increasing disappointment is hilarious, but by the time the lively explanation is complete, they seem fairly sanguine about choosing a delicious, nonblood, chocolate milkshake. An author’s note emphasizes the importance of donating blood, and backmatter offers several intriguing facts about blood. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Entertaining and informative. (Informational picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews