Creepella von Cacklefur No. 4 - Return of the Vampire

It's one of those days where you need something simple and light to read, and the Creepella Von Cacklefur definitely fits that criteria. A series for early readers, Creepella Von Cacklefur is a special-effects designer and director of scary films, as well as a student studying to be a journalist. Oh, and yes, she's a mouse. She lives in the world of Geronimo Stilton, an Italian creation (as is Creepella) whose name is pulled from an English cheese, "Stilton." All of the various series in the Stilton universe are for young readers, with an RL3 reading level. The prose is easy to read, and many of the words are written in stylized font to actually depict the word, as well as spell it, making it fun for the young readers to enjoy the story as the read.

Return of the Vampire is the fourth book in the series, which finds Creepella coming to the aid of Franco Fangley, an old friend of Grandpa Frankenstein who happens to be a vampire and a connoisseur of tomato juice. It seems Frangley's castle is haunted, filled with ghosts who persistently play pranks that are forcing him to make the decision to sell his homestead and leave the castle he has called home behind. Creepella, her niece Shivereen, and her friend Billy Squeakspeare, join Grandpa Frankenstein as they visit Castle Marinara (yes, there are plenty of puns - remember, this is a kids' book!) to see if they uncover the source of the ghostly pranks.

The mystery is a cross between Nancy Drew and Scooby Doo, involving scheming real estate investors and the unmasking of the ghostly apparitions. It's simple, it's fun, and it's filled with plenty of full color illustrations that are sure to keep any kid's attention.  It's kind of a shame they didn't have any series like this when I was in elementary school, as I have no doubt I would have enjoyed it.

I am curious, though, to know what prompted the publisher to take these Italian series and translate them for American readers. There are actually several different series - Geronimo Stilton, Thea Stilton, Creepella Von Cacklefur, Cave Mice, Space Mice, and Thea Stilton Mouseford Academy, Mice Kings, Kingdom of Fantasy, and the Special Editions. They must be doing relatively well for the American publishers to continue translating and publishing them (and quite frankly, there are more of these series on the shelves at Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million than there are Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys, which is disappointing to me).

Regardless, it is a series I would recommend for parents who have elementary school age children, as it might entice those who aren't interested in reading to actually read!

RATING:  7 coffins filled with bread crumbs out of 10 for providing "spooky" tales that are not so scary that a young reader can't enjoy them!