What Do We Know About the Chupacabra?

What Do We Know About?

by Pam Pollack, Meg Belviso, Who H.Q.

The What Do We Know About? series explores the mysterious, the unknown, and the unexplained. Is there really a mysterious, blood-sucking creature called the Chupcabra?

Early one morning in 1995, a rancher in Humacao, Puerto Rico, found three of his goats dead. The blood seemed to have been drained from their bodies. As dozens more farm animals were found dead across the island, the fear of the so-called Chupacabra -- the "goat sucker" -- grew. But was a mysterious cryptid really responsible for all of these deaths? And if so, where would it go next? Follow the trail of the Chupacabra in this exciting new title.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cryptids, Mythology, Childrens

112 pages, Paperback

Published September 26, 2023

About the author

Pamela Pollack is a writer/editor/compiler of children's and young adult books.

Reviews

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lot of information and I love how it is written and laid out to encourage children to think critically about evidence, political, and cultural landscapes and draw their own conclusions based off of what is known. Major kudos again to the Who/What was/is books.

[Sylvia "Chivy" · Rating 3 out of 5]

Growing up in a Hispanic family I heard the stories of the Chupacabra.
I found the book to be interesting and learned a few new things.
If you like story about the Loch Ness Monster or Big Foot. Pick up this book.

There's a possibility that a dear friend of mine might have seen a Chupacabra on a very busy highway.

Happy Reading 📚

[Viktoria Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read about the theories behind chupacabra. It didn’t answer a lot of questions because the chupacabra maybe a mythical creature. It did a good job of explaining facts versus stories.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love this series!

[Stasia · Rating 1 out of 5]

RIDICULOUSLY political. 🙄

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A look at the cryptid chupacabra, when it first was reported, the different descriptions people gave who claim to have seen it, evidence for its existence and evidence against, and how it has impacted culture.

I don't think I knew that the chupacabra was a fairly recent cryptid, having only been named in 1995. The book does a good job of providing good evidence both for and against its existence, pointing out other animals we haven't identified with scientific proof until recently, as well as how much the descriptions seem match the creature in the movie Species which had just come out in Puerto Rico and was very popular at the time of its first sightings. It is now a fairly common cryptid in fantasy fiction, so I'm sure this will generate interest among readers in our middle school. I may not put this one in our Elementary. It talks quite a bit about dead animals and then it also has sides about Species and things like The X Files which are definitely not Elementary appropriate.

Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None
Violence: As mentioned, a lot of dead animals with bite marks and blood drained are mentioned.
Ethnic diversity: Much of the people interviewed happen in Puerto Rico and other Central American countries.
LGBTQ+ content: None specified
Other: Movies/shows mentioned in the book have content that may not suitable for the target reader.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a chapter book suitable for about 4th or 5th grade students and older. From the first reports in 1995 to the possibly last report in 2010, the author covers the fact that ranchers or farmers found their animals killed, supposedly with the blood drained. But since no necropsies were performed, this is questionable. The author explains that one of the eyewitnesses may have confused her "sighting" with her recent viewing of the movie Species. Animals that were initially thought to be a chupacabra, and sent to a lab for testing turned out to be 1) a dog, and 2) a skate (ray-type fish). Coyotes or dogs with mange have also been misidentified as chupacabras. An interesting account in which the author views eyewitness testimonies "with a grain of salt." Concludes with 2 timelines and a bibliography.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite of the WhoHQ books. This seemed more reliant on pictures than text for its page count and I feel like there are some holes in the narrative Pollack is creating. Some of her sidebars to contextualize certain names and ideas for younger, inexperienced readers are nice blurbs but could have used more transparent connections. For example, H.R. Giger warranted a sidebar and Pollack gives a brief summation of who he is, but in spite mentioning that he went to school for industrial design and architecture, was he renowned for creating industrial models of animal or mammal subjects? I dunno. Maybe it's just me.

[Fatts · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/ ITS A VERY IMPORTANT BOOK I THINK AND HAS
A LOT OF TRUTH. IT MENTIONS LOCATIONS AS WELL
AS OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS. IF YOURE A BELIEVER
THIS IS A MUST HAVE. HAVING SAID ALL THAT DOESNT
MEAN I AGREE 100 % WITH EVERYTHING.

-FATTS

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't know about this guy! The eye witness accounts and conspiracy theories are so interesting!

[Elexndra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Library borrow

[angel carvajal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative. I don't want to say life changing, but I came in wanting to know the truth and left laughing, crying, a new man.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's possible something like the chupacabra exists. There are so many species we don't even know of yet.

[Scarlett Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was interesting the only thing that stuck was chupacabra means goat sucker.

[Brian M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as other What do we know books.