Bunnicula: The Graphic Novel

by James Howe, Andrew Donkin, Stephen Gilpin (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Full-color artwork breathes new life into this beloved tale of a paranormal pet rabbit, just in time for spooky season.

“Bunnicula rules!” —Dav Pilkey, creator of the Captain Underpants series

Celebrate over forty years of the modern classic Bunnicula with this fang-tastic graphic novelization that will send a shiver down your spine and leave you howling with laughter!

Beware the hare!

Harold the dog and Chester the cat must find out the truth about the newest pet in the Monroe household—a suspicious-looking bunny with unusual habits...and fangs! Could this innocent-seeming rabbit actually be a vampire? Experience the chills and thrills of this classic tale in an all-new graphic novel format!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534421622
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	08/30/2022
Series:	Bunnicula and Friends Series
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	24,675
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 5.80(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	GN570L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

James Howe is the author of more than ninety books for young readers. Bunnicula, coauthored by his late wife Deborah and published in 1979, is considered a modern classic of children’s literature. The author has written six highly popular sequels, along with the spinoff series Tales from the House of Bunnicula and Bunnicula and Friends. Among his other books are picture books such as Horace and Morris but Mostly Dolores and beginning reader series that include the Pinky and Rex and Houndsley and Catina books. He has also written for older readers. The Misfits, published in 2001, inspired the nationwide antibullying initiative No Name-Calling Week, as well as three sequels, Totally Joe, Addie on the Inside, and Also Known as Elvis. A common theme in James Howe’s books from preschool through teens is the acceptance of difference and being true to oneself. Visit him online at JamesHowe.com.

Andrew Donkin is a writer and graphic novelist. He was described by The Times (London) as “the graphic novel supremo,” which is what he’ll have on his tombstone in the unlikely event he ever dies. Andrew has written more than seventy books that sold more than nine million copies, including children’s books, graphic novels, and even the odd book for grown-ups. He is a longtime collaborator with Eoin Colfer. The pair recently coauthored the award-winning graphic novel, Illegal, with art by Giovanni Rigano. Andrew lives near the river Thames in London with his partner, their two children, and no vampire bunny rabbits. Find him at andrewdonkin.com and on Twitter and Instagram at @AndrewDonkin.

Stephen Gilpin graduated from the NYC School of Visual Arts where he studied painting and cartooning. He is the illustrator of the Who Shrunk Daniel Funk series and The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy series. Stephen currently lives in Hiawatha, Kansas. Visit him at SGilpin.com.

Editorial Reviews

10/07/2022

Gr 3–5—The graphic novel adaptation of Deborah and James Howe's 1979 classic has all the humor and charm of the original. Harold and Chester are a dog and cat living comfortably in a home whose dynamic is thrown off when their family returns one day with a rabbit they discovered while seeing Dracula at the movies. When the household's produce starts turning white, Chester immediately believes that the rabbit—Bunnicula—is a vampire who will ultimately destroy the family. Chester's repeated attempts to rid the family of Bunnicula, paired with Harold's common sense thinking, provide for laugh-out-loud moments. Donkin's adaptation of Howe's original story breaks the fourth wall between reader and characters through Harold's epistolary narration as well as communication with the reader via written signs that provide additional commentary. Chester's growing mania and conspiracy theories on Bunnicula, brought to life with Gilpin's colorful and expressive illustrations, will have readers giggling and waiting to see just what the cat will try next. VERDICT A delightful addition to graphic novel collections.—Rosemary Kiladitis

School Library Journal

2022-04-27
In this graphic-novel adaptation of the 1979 book, two intelligent house pets investigate a suspiciously vampirelike bunny living among them.

The story, introduced as Harold the dog’s manuscript for publication, begins on a dark and stormy night. Harold’s owners, the Monroe family (mother, father, two young boys), adopt a mysterious rabbit affectionately named Bunnicula after his discovery at a screening of the movie Dracula. Chester the well-read house cat notices parallels between Bunnicula’s behavior and the classic vampire. Convinced that the little rabbit’s arrival spells doom, Chester leaps into action while a befuddled Harold tries to keep up. Suspicion and bias have as much to do with anything supposedly supernatural going on in the Monroe household. Harold and Chester are the only two animals who converse and are the protagonists of the story. Layouts are generally made up of four to eight panels of varying sizes, with dialogue among the whole family and theatrically verbose first-person narration from Harold. Full-page and two-page panels are used to heighten a dramatic reveal or give a wholesome moment time to hang in the air. Visual fourth-wall breaks, such as Harold looking directly at the reader or working on the manuscript as it is being read, give readers an inviting angle to the hilarity. The Monroe family members are light-skinned.

This pets’-eye-view farce bares fangs but draws laughs instead of blood. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews