Garlic and the Vampire - Bree Paulsen - ★★★★.½

AUTHOR: Bree Paulsen

SERIES: Garlic, #1

GENRE: Middle-grade Graphic Novel

PUBLICATION DATE: September 28, 2021

RATING: 4.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A sweet middle-grade graphic novel featuring anthropomorphic vegetables, a witch, and a vampire. Great story, cute illustrations, nice themes, lovely ending. Much recommended!

Plot Preview:

Garlic likes to work in the vegetable garden along with Carrot and the other vegetables. However, she is very uncertain of herself and constantly battles self-doubt and anxiety. Even Carrot’s encouraging words and the kind witch Agnes’ encouragement don’t help.

When the vegetable village learns that a vampire has moved into the nearby castle, they all agree that Garlic is the best *person* to drive him away as vampires hate garlic. However, Garlic herself isn’t sure if she has what it takes to do such a brave thing. But can she let her friends down?

Bookish Yays:

🥬 The anthropomorphic veggie characters, each with their distinct personality traits. My favourites were Garlic, her best friend Carrot and the dour-faced Potato. I hope kids will learn to love veggies more after reading this book. (Then again, this story might also make them hate Celery! 😉)

🥬 The only two human-like characters are Agnes the kind witch whose garden the vegetables work in, and the Vampire (I wonder if he is Patrik from this author’s unfinished graphic novel series!) I love how both of them break stereotypes. Kids books rarely show these types of characters in a positive light, so it will reinforce the idea of not judging based on looks or hearsay.

🥬 The plot is simple and yet carries many important life lessons for little readers. It covers the themes of mental health and anxiety. It demonstrates the importance of having a good and reliable friend on whom you can count for encouragement and positive thinking when you feel low. It also shows the necessity of sleep during times of stress.

🥬 The illustrations are perfect for the story. The colour palette is kept earthy, in keeping with the dominant characters and the nature-focussed narrative. I especially loved the illustrations under the chapter titles, which showed a garlic clove budding into its own new plant.

Bookish Mixed Bags:

🥦 The only part I am unsure about is why the vegetables use “Grapes!” and “Cheese ‘n’ chives!” as exclamatory phrases. Though Grape and Chive aren’t characters in this book, it still feels funny to see one vegetable using another veg/fruit name to exclaim.

All in all, I enjoyed this book. (I read this along with my daughters, and it received a 5 star and a 4 star from them respectively. The younger one wasn’t too impressed with the vampire – sheesh!) It’s always great when a book keeps the age of its target audience in mind and caters to that level. This novel delivers in terms of plot, characters, message, and illustrations, so it deserves a solid rec.

Much recommended to all middle-graders, whether they love their veggies or not, whether they hate vampires or not. This book will entertain and educate them on both the above points, and more.

I’m moving on to the sequel with greater expectations. Fingers crossed!

4.5 stars. (My rating, as well as the average of my daughters’ ratings.) Rounding up wherever applicable coz I love veggies!