Kevin the Vampire: A Most Mysterious Monster

Matt Brown's Kevin the Vampire: A Most Mysterious Monster is a very silly monster adventure for 9 year olds about a vampire boy who can't quite get the hang of being a vampire.

What happens

Kevin looks like any other kid. Well, apart from the fangs. And the fact that he doesn't cast a shadow. He travels with his family's carnival, and his big brother and sister are the star acts. Kevin isn't good at anything yet. Every time he tries to turn into a bat he turns into something else (a box of doughnuts, a ball of wool).

He's lonely too. The carnival never stays anywhere long enough for him to make a friend. So he tells all his secrets to Dog, who isn't really a dog and keeps coughing up things that scuttle off.

Then the batnav goes wrong. The whole carnival ends up lost in Lower Drudging, a gloomy town full of humans, and nobody in the family has ever met one (they've heard humans eat their toenails on toast). They're out of gold as well. So Kevin suggests putting on a show. Nobody listens, and his sister gets the credit. Poor Kevin!

Meanwhile we meet Susie Cabbage. She lives with two horrible aunts who've turned her bedside clock into a timetable of chores, from clipping their toenails to scrubbing the outside toilet. Susie loves adventure stories, probably because nothing adventurous has ever happened to her.

Lower Drudging has banned fun altogether. Birthdays, Christmas, the lot. Why? Because of the You-Know-What that lives in the mountain. So a carnival with a fire-breathing dragon might not be the best idea...

The humour is gloriously gross and very daft. There's a Deadly Alan, two furry blue balls called Thingie and Majig, and a mad scientist collecting toe-jam for her next evil robot. The narrator chats away with little jokes in brackets, which makes it feel like a story being told out loud.

Underneath all the silliness is a boy who wants someone to notice him, and a girl who's never been allowed any fun. You can probably guess where that's heading, and it's lovely watching them get there.

What to read next

If they'd like another young vampire who isn't living up to the family name, Rules for Vampires is about Leo, whose mum expects her to pass a big test on her birthday night. It's a little darker, with a spooky castle and a mum who's genuinely terrifying.