The Little Vampire Who Lost a TOOTH!        

 

The Little Vampire Who Lost a TOOTH!
Elaine Bickell
Ill. Raymond McGrath
Scholastic (2026)
Picture book
32 pages, Paperback
ISBN 978 1 77543 996 7

 

‘Little Vampire went out early one night,
excited about all the things he would bite.’

 With the deserved success of The Little Ghost Who Lost Her BOO! (2019) and The Little Witch Who Lost her BROOM! (2024), Elaine Bickell has now produced a third volume in the series, The Little Vampire Who Lost a TOOTH! The common factor is not that the characters are supernatural beings but rather they are supernatural beings who are children. (They might even be children who have dressed up for Halloween.)

 Elaine Bickell’s verses are cheerful, witty and readable, with enjoyable rhythms:

‘He opened his mouth, got ready to nibble…
but, oh no! His tooth had a wobbly wibble!’

 Look at how artist Raymond McGrath has depicted Little Vampire. His traditional evening dress with swirling cape creates lovely curves, which are reflected in his gracefully-curved shirt, trousers, waistcoat, shoes, fingers, ears and kiss-curl. Only his fangs are pointed. Whoops! Fang. His fang is pointed. What a calamity! Little Vampire has lost a wiggly tooth. Fortunately, his supernatural friends are quick to comfort him.

 Little Ghost offers him an ice cream:

‘Try eating something you don’t need to bite.

Have my ice scream, it’ll do the trick.
No need to bite -just give it a lick.’

 Flying by, Little Witch, has toffees to offer. The bats enjoy them but Little Vampire cannot be consoled:  

“Yum,” said Vampire,“but chewing’s not right.
I am a vampire and vampires bite!”

 Further attempts at aiding Little Vampire fail but then comes the funniest part of this story. The readers (and their listeners) are invited to take part in reassuring the Little Vampire. And the best part is that all young readers do have the knowledge which will bring him joy. It’s no spoiler to say that young readers can take full credit for the gloriously happy ending which ensues.

 Dawn McMillan describes The Little Vampire Who Lost a TOOTH! as a not-too-scary story, and her jolly verse certainly keeps the mood light. The pictures also add to the fun. Who expected spider monsters to wear baseball caps, or the Little Mummy to sport a smiley-face T-shirt over his wrappings?

A squadron of pink-eared vampire bats fly in formation with Little Vampire (and walk in formation with him when he walks). When he hangs upside-down from a bridge (to lick a lollipop) the bats hang beside Little Vampire in a neat curve.

 The witty detail in the charming illustrations create a droll child’s-eye-view of Halloween. As Little Vampire flies over the park, young readers will spot that the ice cream stall is being operated by a genial Abominable Snowman. An amiable tentacled monster is walking his pet rat on a lead and an even more amiable and even more tentacled octopus is running the soup van. Looking at the pictures is as rewarding as reading the words

 Ideal for shared reading – of both the words and the pictures.

 

Trevor Agnew
19 Oct 2026  [Review 3868.]