Vampire Peter

by Ben Manley

Everyone says Peter is the baddest boy in school. He likes strange food, wears strange clothes and does strange things. In fact, Peter is a vampire. So when the class gerbil goes missing, Lucy lets Peter take the blame, even though she knows it wasn’t anything to do with him...

Genres: Picture Books, Vampires, Halloween, Childrens, Friendship, Holiday, Humor

Paperback

Reviews

[Mary Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and lively picturebook that is perfect for this time of year, Vampire Peter also bears a good message about acceptance, responsibility and honesty. Peter certainly does come across as the ‘weird kid’ who disrupts everybody around him, he also makes them laugh, is kind and generous. So, just because he’s different, does that make him bad? Lucys’ attack of conscience brings about a change of heart and opens the doors to a fantastic friendship. Wonderful, child-friendly illustrations that really express the feelings and situations throughout the story. Who doesn’t love a vampire story? Bright, colourful, zany and action-packed.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

ignoring the need to rename a child because the teacher felt like it, it does have a cute little lesson in it.

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. It's good in that it deals with standing up when things are right, even after you made a bad decision in the first place. But it doesn't deal with the prejudice against Vampetru and the issues that causes. They also choose to call him Peter... without him saying it was ok or allowed. And we know that renaming a child just because a name is "hard" or "different" or "weird" is a very bad thing to do.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings. Renaming a student because their name is hard to pronounce...ick. He gets made fun of for being different and that's not properly addressed. The friendship/forgiveness message is nice but overall, problematic.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute art. The story felt a bit strange because of the concept of a misunderstood kid being labeled "bad."

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young girl tells the tale of Vampire Peter, who appeared one day in her school. Peter was considered the baddest boy in school and very strange. But a closer look reveals another side of Peter.

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely funny book about people who are different. Dracula has a kid named Peter. He's moved to the states and he's weird. He wears funny clothes and does things others don't. One girl sees just because he's different doesn't mean he's bad.

The best bit is the translation page. Peter has a servant pick him up in a carriage and they speak in Romanian or transylvanian. The girl doesn't understand and we don't either until we read the translation. The servant asked if he should kill the kids to close to Peter. Peter replies, No, they are my friends. I thought that was funny.

Peter wins everyone over by turning into a bat, saving someone and then he's himself again. Silly and cute. A nice little Halloween story.

Happy Halloween!

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter has trouble fitting in as the new kid from Transylvania.

This picture book takes a vampiric spin on the new kid trope. Peter, who appears to be the son of Dracula, is the student at a typically American elementary school. He wears different clothing, eats different food, had different interests, and speaks a different language. These differences are a source of conflict between him and both his classmates and teachers.

When the class pet goes missing, Peter is immediately blamed even though it was actually Lucy who left the cage open. She eventually confesses, and Peter’s spectacular rescue of the gerbil earns him his classmates respect.

Peter becomes popular with his peers, and all’s well that ends well.

Dracula fans will appreciate this story.

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked when Peter was being bad because I be bad sometimes. And then I liked when he was good because sometimes I am good like today. - Luke

(Luke was not good today) and I thought this was a really cute book about being misunderstood. - Mama

[H.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

How are you going to say Peter's your friend and then even consider letting him take the fall for something you've done—especially after you've already let him get in trouble for things he's done for you before? LIKE MAKE IT MAKE SENSE 😭