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BabyLit® Primers
Dracula: A BabyLit® Counting Primer
Meet 2 friends, Mina and Lucy, and the 5 heroes who try to save them from the dreaded Count Dracula in Dracula: A BabyLit® Counting Primer. Make sure you're wearing a necklace of 10 garlic flowers as you count wolves, ships, tombstones, and boxes full of soil in this witty retelling of Little Master Stoker's classic gothic tale.
22 pages, Board book
First published August 1, 2012
7 people are currently reading
1509 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Adams
184 books199 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Jennifer Adams is the author of more than forty books. Her bestselling BabyLit board books (published by Gibbs Smith) introduce small children to the world of classic literature and have sold 1.5 million copies. She is the author of another series of board books, My Little Cities.
Jennifer’s picture books for children, Edgar Gets Ready for Bed, Edgar and the Tattle-Tale Heart and Edgar and the Tree House of Usher are inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven.” She also has two new picture books forthcoming from HarperCollins.
Her titles also include books for adults, including Y is for Yorick, a slightly irreverent look at Shakespeare, and Remarkably Jane, notable quotations on Jane Austen.
Jennifer graduated from the University of Washington. She has 20 years’ experience as a book editor, including at Gibbs Smith and Quirk Books. She currently works as a consulting editor for Sounds True, developing their children’s line. Jennifer works some evenings at her local independent bookstore, The King’s English, to feed her book habit. She lives in Salt Lake City with her husband, Bill Dunford, who is also a writer.
(bio from author's website)
Jennifer Adams is the author of more than forty books. Her bestselling BabyLit board books (published by Gibbs Smith) introduce small children to the world of classic literature and have sold 1.5 million copies. She is the author of another series of board books, My Little Cities.
Jennifer’s picture books for children, Edgar Gets Ready for Bed, Edgar and the Tattle-Tale Heart and Edgar and the Tree House of Usher are inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven.” She also has two new picture books forthcoming from HarperCollins.
Her titles also include books for adults, including Y is for Yorick, a slightly irreverent look at Shakespeare, and Remarkably Jane, notable quotations on Jane Austen.
Jennifer graduated from the University of Washington. She has 20 years’ experience as a book editor, including at Gibbs Smith and Quirk Books. She currently works as a consulting editor for Sounds True, developing their children’s line. Jennifer works some evenings at her local independent bookstore, The King’s English, to feed her book habit. She lives in Salt Lake City with her husband, Bill Dunford, who is also a writer.
(bio from author's website)
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
August 28, 2018
Great counting book just in time for Halloween!
September 27, 2016
This book broke our baby. He vibrates every time we pick it up and screeches on every page turn. 5 Drool covered stars.
November 2, 2013
A counting book based on DRACULA? Yep, and it's a real winner around here! My toddler LOVES the book, I think because of the purple/black/white color scheme, which is totally different from his other books. And I love reading it to him, because it's counting the things and characters from DRACULA! 1 castle. 2 friends: Mina and Lucy.
Awesome.
Awesome.
August 16, 2014
Can I just say that I liked this book better than the original (Just Kidding, Not Really). The main elements of the original book are in here and it is really fun to read. These books are so wonderful at capturing the elements of classic works of literature. I love this series.
January 30, 2015
This book is hilarious! I think I will use it to teach my students about mood.
July 29, 2015
One of her better ones. Plus I like all things Halloween-y. Unless it's actually scary. Like, I've never actually finished the real Dracula because I'm too scared.
October 9, 2025
The premise of introducing the youngest readers to classic literature via board books is great, but this one seems to try to stay baby-friendly a bit too much. I can understand why there’s no scary illustrations of vampires, but why are we calling coffins ‘boxes’ when we don’t mind referring to tombstones as ‘tombstones’? This one isn’t as stellar as many in the series, thus 4/5.
NEW REVIEW 10/8/2025
5/5, c’mon. Maybe all books are 5/5. It’s still dumb that she did “boxes” instead of coffins but whatever. I’m glad that these books have been around for all 3 of my kiddos.
NEW REVIEW 10/8/2025
5/5, c’mon. Maybe all books are 5/5. It’s still dumb that she did “boxes” instead of coffins but whatever. I’m glad that these books have been around for all 3 of my kiddos.
July 24, 2018
Holy geez, I love this collection of books for my daughter! Each one is more fun than the last. I saw this one on sale at BAM and it was a no-brainer with Fall & Halloween coming (it's never too early in our house!). I love that the book (and all other in this series) incorporates some of the best characters from the adult version of Dracula. LO had a great time as I was reading to her... we squeaked like rats, howled like wolves, swayed like ships. And she loved when I took her hand and pointed to each highlighted object on the page to count with her ❤
March 8, 2014
This board book is just too cute to handle. It is my favorite of the Babylit books by Jennifer Adams. The first page starts with "1 Haunted House," then continues with adorable illustrations until you get to "10 Boxes." The boxes look like coffins, which gives you the option of explaining this to your toddler, or not. I simply squealed with delight over this book.
September 14, 2016
I mean, BabyLit forever, man. These books are the perfect kind of tongue-in-cheek references that will elicit a wry chuckle from parents (well, well-read parents at least) yet aren't too obscure for children to enjoy on their own level. And no, this one is not too scary for kids at all -- despite its source material. :)
October 5, 2016
I adored these illustrations!
October 1, 2017
So obsessed with these literary board books that are basically for adults. lol. Perfect for Halloween!!
November 29, 2017
I love the colors and how creepy/morbid this is... but still not sure I want my toddler counting tombstones and coffins? maybe? undecided! but it's pretty.
February 28, 2018
I like this version infinitely better so far. it must be read in the voice of the Count from Sesame street. Ah-ah-ah!
May 11, 2019
I have five-month-old twin boys, and they seemed to really enjoy looking at the pictures in this book today after it was given to them by a friend of mine. The illustrations are adorable and engaging, and the wording is extremely clear.
Needless to say, Jennifer Adams has three new fans.
Needless to say, Jennifer Adams has three new fans.
August 12, 2020
Rowan liked this one so much he destroyed it. First munched, then broke the spine. Think it’s in three different pieces now. Should probably replace it.
November 14, 2024
These little primer board books from classic novels are so cute. We miiiight be too old for them. Or maybe we're not.
July 20, 2021
El libro es muy guay y molón. Me ha encantado y lo volveré a leer muchas más veces🥳🧄🤩🌻🔥🔥 - Djiby
July 5, 2017
What can I say about a book like this? First of all it is an interesting concept to make baby books based upon well-known literature but unless you are an adult and one who has read the actual story it is going to go over the heads of most little ones while the concept of the story. And even if they aren't it will be a long time before they are ready to pick up one of the Classics, maybe longer to just be able to finish reading it.
Otherwise the writing and illustrations are really simplistic in their presentation. In the end they basically take apart the book of "Dracula" and give it as a clean summary form for children and/or adults who are looking over the book while offering them a chance to go over the numbers while also at the same time not ending the book.
The actual illustrations probably end up saving this particular book since even though they continue in their dark mode they are cutely made so much that the ominous side is taken away. Instead you have wolves that look like they are trying to grow sparse beards, people a few inches above stick form, rats in their city-wear and no sight of Drac although he is around there somewhere.
So if you like the original book and may want to try a hand on teaching little minds then you can definitely enjoy this book. Or if you need a reminder of the book yourself then this may be the way to go without having to consult Cliffnotes.
Otherwise the writing and illustrations are really simplistic in their presentation. In the end they basically take apart the book of "Dracula" and give it as a clean summary form for children and/or adults who are looking over the book while offering them a chance to go over the numbers while also at the same time not ending the book.
The actual illustrations probably end up saving this particular book since even though they continue in their dark mode they are cutely made so much that the ominous side is taken away. Instead you have wolves that look like they are trying to grow sparse beards, people a few inches above stick form, rats in their city-wear and no sight of Drac although he is around there somewhere.
So if you like the original book and may want to try a hand on teaching little minds then you can definitely enjoy this book. Or if you need a reminder of the book yourself then this may be the way to go without having to consult Cliffnotes.
January 22, 2021
Just realized I've never read the original. But this one was cute and, I think?, clever.
April 14, 2016
Super cute!
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I originally set out to find some board books for my future niece, but ended up finding this…and needless to say it’s now on my own shelf. Oops. Dracula is one of my favorite classics, and the book that really kicked off my love of gothic novels…so of course I bought a board book devoted to counting.
Dracula is a counting book, which points to the person who knows their vampire lore, and it takes prominent things from the books and places them in gorgeous pictures devoted to teaching your little ones to count to ten.
I really love the images for this, and love that even though it has a ton of muted ‘moody’ colors that there are still nice pops of red and purple. I think Dracula (and the others in this series) are some of the coolest baby books I’ve seen lately. I love that it’s a great way to help your baby learn the basics of counting, but also let them become familiar with the classics they’re parents love.
I’m definitely keeping my eyes open for the rest of the books like this, like Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights.
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I originally set out to find some board books for my future niece, but ended up finding this…and needless to say it’s now on my own shelf. Oops. Dracula is one of my favorite classics, and the book that really kicked off my love of gothic novels…so of course I bought a board book devoted to counting.
Dracula is a counting book, which points to the person who knows their vampire lore, and it takes prominent things from the books and places them in gorgeous pictures devoted to teaching your little ones to count to ten.
I really love the images for this, and love that even though it has a ton of muted ‘moody’ colors that there are still nice pops of red and purple. I think Dracula (and the others in this series) are some of the coolest baby books I’ve seen lately. I love that it’s a great way to help your baby learn the basics of counting, but also let them become familiar with the classics they’re parents love.
I’m definitely keeping my eyes open for the rest of the books like this, like Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights.
March 27, 2013
I read this book around the same time as _Alice in Wonderland: A BabyLit Colors Primer_ and I loved it. The book is fun and still educational without being too overwhelming for your learners. I could see there being criticisms on how the book might be too scary for young readers, but it's really quite cartoony with some darker colors. I could also see how fans of Stoker's book would be unhappy because it's not exactly the original story, but I don't think that needs to be worried about either. Much like the _Alice_ book, this primer gives hints and references to the original story that will work to entertain the adults reading the book alongside a young reader, or fans may appreciate this cute adaptation for what it is. I would definitely recommend this as well as the other book options from this company.
Read
February 2, 2013When I saw this at the store, I couldn't resist buying it for my niece, who is two and learning to count. The only number she can say so far is "two," so she repeats "two" while pointing at things to mimic counting. After she finishes, she laughs "HA HA HA" like The Count on Sesame Street. Admittedly, I might be partially to blame for that.
But I digress. Her parents are well-read, so I figured they'd get a kick out of this board book. There's some cute pictures for the kids and some morbid humor for the adults. The page that sealed the deal for me was the one featuring "9 Boxes." Of course, these boxes were very coffin-shaped.
Honestly, what's not to love?
But I digress. Her parents are well-read, so I figured they'd get a kick out of this board book. There's some cute pictures for the kids and some morbid humor for the adults. The page that sealed the deal for me was the one featuring "9 Boxes." Of course, these boxes were very coffin-shaped.
Honestly, what's not to love?
June 16, 2015
Dracula is out for blood! And he's also out to help little classics fans learn to count.
It didn't occur to me until this very second that this isn't the first time a vampire count has taught toddlers their 1-2-3s... Anyway, I won't deny that I've been waiting to read/review this one until Halloween time, and I found it to be another fun entry in the series (and, I think, the last one I had left!). It had little touches from the story and lots of characters, and, as expected, plenty of dark, spooky, fun artwork that somehow evokes the story's spirit, though it naturally tones down the more, erm... graphic elements of Bram Stoker's original to be entirely appropriate for little humans.
It didn't occur to me until this very second that this isn't the first time a vampire count has taught toddlers their 1-2-3s... Anyway, I won't deny that I've been waiting to read/review this one until Halloween time, and I found it to be another fun entry in the series (and, I think, the last one I had left!). It had little touches from the story and lots of characters, and, as expected, plenty of dark, spooky, fun artwork that somehow evokes the story's spirit, though it naturally tones down the more, erm... graphic elements of Bram Stoker's original to be entirely appropriate for little humans.
November 2, 2012
I have seen various Goodreads giveaways for Jennifer Adams' Babylit books and was excited to finally win one. Dracula arrived with perfect timing, the day before Halloween. Even though my son is a little to old for counting board books, he still liked it, I mean it is Dracula after all. I will be passing this on to a friend of mine after his son is born and I won't hesitate to buy other BabyLit books in the future as gifts or for any future children of my own.
May 28, 2013
I never thought I'd be reading Dracula to my 4-month-old, but there you have it! BabyLit Dracula, by Little Master Stoker, is a counting primer. We encounter 1 castle perched atop a tall mountain and surrounded by 3 hoooowling wolves, 8 adorable rats ready to journey to London, 9 "boxes" (read: coffins), and 10 garlic flowers, among other delights. Pop a vampire pacifier in your baby's mouth and check it out!
December 15, 2017
Another title in the Babylit series that creates board books inspired by classics. In this book, babies and toddlers can learn to count with parts of Dracula's plot and characters. It's likely more for parents than child but it's an entertaining way to teach child numbers. I found the illustration of "boxes" which are really coffins to be amusing in a dark humor way. This book is perfect for the parent who loves classics and with a slightly dark sense of humor.
August 5, 2013
This is a creepy tale of gothic horror. The art style really shines and the counting element does not detract from the thematic elements. While not necessarily providing the most accurate retelling of the plot, younger readers may be delightfully scared by the terrible ever increasing numbers of spooky things.
December 17, 2012
This is a very funny concept, hilariously executed, which I imagine will delight just as many adult literature fans as tots.
August 11, 2016
Clever. Adams did a bunch of these books where she used classic books as her starting point. This is a counting primer. The artwork is spooky but not overly so.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews