[BOOK REVIEW] Pinocchio Vampire Slayer and the Great Puppet Theater by Van Jensen

Title:  Pinocchio Vampire Slayer and the Great Puppet Theater



Author:  Van Jensen



Artist:  Dusty Higgins

Genre:  Horror / Comedy / Folktale / Retelling / Action

Year Published:  2010

Year Read: 12/18/2014

Series: Pinocchio Vampire Slayer #2

Publisher: SLG Publishing



Source:  Purchased



Content Rating:  Ages 10+ (Some Language and Violence)

Introduction:

After I had finished reading “Pinocchio Vampire Slayer,” I was so interested in the premise of this graphic novel that I just had to pick up the second volume to this series and man was “Pinocchio Vampire Slayer and the Great Puppet Theater” even better than the first volume!

What is this story about?

After the tragic events of the first volume where Pinocchio accidentally kills Gepetto, who was turned into a vampire at that point, Pinocchio along with the Blue Fairy, Master Cherry who has been turned into a vampire at this point and Carlotta, continue to slay vampires.  Meanwhile, Pinocchio meets up with a group of puppets who he had met up with when he first met Fire Eater and they help Pinocchio fight off the vampires. Unfortunately, later on Master Cherry’s vampirism starts overtaking him and he tries to kill Pinocchio and Pinocchio is forced to kill Cherry.  This act then enrages the Blue Fairy and she ends up turning Pinocchio back into a real boy, which ends up killing herself.  Even though Pinocchio now has time to spend with Carlotta, his love interest, he is powerless against the vampire threat without the use of his nose as a stake.

Can Pinocchio still defeat the vampires as a real boy?

What I loved about this story:

Van Jensen’s writing: Van Jensen’s writing is as usual highly creative and witty to read as Pinocchio’s adventures as a vampire slayer continues and I must say that this volume is just as action packed and emotional as the first volume!  I loved the way that Van Jensen continues to develop Pinocchio’s character as we can see just how much Gepetto’s death has affected Pinocchio and why slaying vampires is so personal to him.  I also loved the scenes where Pinocchio tries to have a relationship with Carlotta after he turns into a real boy since we are able to see a much softer side to Pinocchio’s personality and it was great seeing Pinocchio be happy during his life since we rarely see that side of him in the first volume.  I also loved the fact that Van Jensen focused more on the character development of each character as I actually felt the pain and sorrow that Pinocchio had felt when the vampires had taken away most of his family and also his hostility towards Master Cherry being a vampire now, despite the fact that the Blue Fairy found a way to control his vampire nature.  I also loved the fact that Van Jensen introduced the other puppets that Pinocchio had met when he had met Fire Eater as it brings in so much familiarity with the original source material and he manages to tie those characters into this story neatly by having them defeat the vampires like Pinocchio!

Dusty Higgins’ artwork:  Dusty Higgins’ artwork truly fits with the dark and gritty mood of this story, while containing the comedic touches to the story whenever the characters are making witty comments about the situations they are in.  I also loved the way that Dusty Higgins drew the vampires as they truly do look frightening and they really bring in the terrifying nature of the situation that Pinocchio is in!

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

The only thing that annoyed me a bit in this graphic novel was that the artwork was sometimes hard to understand as the characters’ actions looked a bit too scratchy and blurry and it was a bit hard to see what kind of actions they are doing throughout this graphic novel such as whether or not they are actually slashing the vampires on certain parts of their bodies.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Pinocchio Vampire Slayer and the Great Puppet Theater” is an even more fantastic follow up to the first volume and I am definitely ready to check out the third volume of this series!

[BOOK REVIEW] Pinocchio Vampire Slayer by Van Jensen

Title:  Pinocchio Vampire Slayer

Author:  Van Jensen

Artist:  Dusty Higgins

Genre:  Horror / Fairy Tale / Remake

Year Published:  2009

Year Read: 11/6/2014

Series:  Pinocchio Vampire Slayer #1

Publisher: SLG Publishing

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 11+ (Some Language and Violence)

Buy or Add on:  Amazon  //  Goodreads

Introduction:

Alright, so when I was browsing through my library looking for some good fairy tale books to read, I stumbled upon this unknown graphic novel series called “Pinocchio Vampire Slayer.”  Now, when I saw the title, I was thinking to myself: “Cool, Vampire Slayers and Fairy Tale characters; two of my most favorite subjects in the entire world!”  So, I just had to check this graphic novel out and man was I so surprised by the interesting premise of this graphic novel!

What is this story about?

After the events of the original “Pinocchio” story, a group of vampires suddenly invade the city of Nasolungo and ended up murdering Geppetto before Pinocchio’s very eyes.  This horrific act causes Pinocchio to become a ruthless vampire slayer as he uses his own nose to stake the vampires.  With the help of the cricket, Master Cherry the Carpenter and a much older Blue Fairy, Pinocchio makes his way through the vampires while discovering a deep dark secret about the vampires’ true motives in their murdering sprees.

What I loved about this story:

Van Jensen’s writing: Now, I will admit that when I first heard about this title, I was thinking to myself about how they would be able to pull off a story about taking one of the world’s most beloved fairy tale characters and transforming them into a vampire slayer.  Well, Van Jensen has proven that he can make a story about a wooden puppet becoming a vampire slayer work out in an extremely intriguing way!  I loved the way that Van Jensen wrote Pinocchio as a tough as nails older boy than as an innocent yet naïve little boy he was in the previous story (well, to be fair, the “Pinocchio” in the original story was actually much more sadistic as a character than the Disney version had led you to believe).  To me, it felt natural for Pinocchio to become a bit more ruthless in this story because of what happened to Geppetto and Van Jensen really did a great job at setting up Pinocchio’s character progression in this story while letting the readers know about how Geppetto’s death really affected Pinocchio.  I also liked the fact that we get Master Cherry the Carpenter in this story as he slays vampires just like Pinocchio and he seems to have a relationship with Pinocchio that is similar to the relationship between Giles and Buffy from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (as in Pinocchio does treat Master Cherry like a father figure after the death of Geppetto).  It was also interesting in seeing certain characters from the original story return in different roles such as the Cricket being mainly a ghost like character in this story, the Blue Fairy being much older and the Fox and the Cat, who take on a much creepier role in this story, which I will not reveal what kind of identities they actually have in this story!

Dusty Higgins’ artwork:  Dusty Higgins’ artwork brilliantly combines both the humorous and frightening mood of the story as the characters do look a bit cartoonish at times, but the artwork also brings out the horror that the vampires bring to the story by having them look so menacing for the most part.  I also loved the way that Dusty Higgins drew Pinocchio as he looked a bit like John Constantine as in terms of clothing style.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

The reason why I gave this graphic novel a four star rating was because I felt that they did not develop the secondary characters very well in this story.  Since we have already read many stories about Pinocchio, we pretty much already know about his background history and the creators of this graphic novel did a great job of explaining the story of the original “Pinocchio” at the beginning of this novel.  However, we do not know much about Master Cherry, the Blue Fairy or the Cricket in this novel and I would have loved to know more about these characters and how they know about the vampires invading the city.  I also felt that this graphic novel was a bit too short as in it did not explain enough about how the vampires invaded the city in the first place and I would have liked to see more from this story.  Also, there were times where Dusty Higgins’ artwork was a bit too scratchy to look at and it was hard for me to understand what was going on in some of the fighting scenes.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Pinocchio Vampire Slayer” is a pretty creative story that really set the bar for placing a well-known fairy tale character in a situation that they normally would not be set in and turn it into something fun and horrific for the readers!  I definitely cannot wait for the next few volumes of this series to come out!

 

[BOOK REVIEW] Strega Nona Meets Her Match by Tomie dePaola

Title:  Strega Nona Meets Her Match

Author:  Tomie dePaola

Genre: Humor / Competition / Italy / Folktale

Year Published: 1993

 
Year Read: 1996

Series: Strega Nona #5

Publisher:  Puffin

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

Strega Nona is back again and this time she faces her biggest challenge yet… Strega Amelia! Tomie dePaola did an excellent job on both the illustrations and the story and therefore, makes “Strega Nona meets her match” an instant treat.

Tomie dePaola’s storytelling is clever and funny as he details Strega Nona’s efforts to get her job back from Strega Amelia. Also, the storytelling gets extremely hilarious when Big Anthony tried to do everything right for Strega Amelia, but ends up running all the machines backwards and ruining Strega Amelia’s chance for a profitable business. Tomie dePaola’s illustrations are also the highlights of the book as he comically illustrates the Mayor’s predicament when Big Anthony tried to cure his headache, but ended up making the machine malfunction.

“Strega Nona meets her match” is a wonderful story about peer pressure as Strega Amelia tries to get the townspeople to use high-tech products for fixing their problems over Strega Nona’s old-fashioned remedies. However, when things go wrong at Strega Amelia’s clinic, the townspeople realize that sometimes it is better to just stick with the old and simple techniques than try out new techniques that they have no control over. “Strega Nona meets her match” is a wonderful classic that both children and adults will cherish for many years because of its clever humor and its even more clever storytelling.

[BOOK REVIEW] The Clown of God by Tomie dePaola

Title:  The Clown of God

Author:  Tomie dePaola


Genre: Religion / Drama


Year Published: 1978


Year Read: 2010

Publisher:  HMH Books for Young Readers

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Depiction of Death)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“The Clown of God” is an Italian folktale retold by Tomie dePaola, famous for his “Strega Nona” books.  This book is about how a young boy named Giovanni becomes a famous juggler all around Italy while learning the true meaning of spreading happiness around the world.  “The Clown of God” is a truly touching story that children will love for many years.

Tomie dePaola has done an excellent job at both illustrating and writing this book about the true meaning of spreading happiness.  Tomie dePaola’s writing is much more serious and dramatic in this book than in his “Strega Nona” series as he discusses the matter of religion and about the poverty that Giovanni has to go through in his life.  Tomie dePaola has done an excellent job at creating sympathy for the main character Giovanni as he goes through poverty after his parents’ death and suddenly becomes a famous juggler after his special abilities are discovered and Giovanni’s touching story will help many children realize that everyone has a special ability that can bring happiness to other people if they care about the impact that their special abilities will have on the world.  Tomie dePaola’s illustrations are much more beautiful than in his “Strega Nona” series, especially as he draws the characters’ expressions in a realistic way and the characters are drawn in a more fluid manner as the characters appearances are so smooth.

Parents should know that the ending of this book is a bit sad as it deals with the death of a person.  I will not reveal who dies at the end of the book, but the idea of death presented in this book might frightened smaller children and parents should explain to their children about the issues of death before they read them this book.

“The Clown of God” is a truly heartwarming and touching story about the importance of spreading happiness around the world and many children will enjoy this book’s message about true happiness.  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up due to the sad ending and the religious theme might confuse smaller children.

[BOOK REVIEW] Big Anthony and the Magic Ring by Tomie dePaola

Title:  Big Anthony and the Magic Ring

Author:  Tomie dePaola


Genre: Humor / Folktale / Romance


Year Published: 1979


Year Read: 1994


Series: Strega Nona #2

Publisher:  HMH Books for Young Readers

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Some Kissing, but nothing more)

Buy or Add on:  Amazon  //  Goodreads
 

I have been reading the “Strega Nona” series ever since I was a child and I have enjoyed the series ever since! Now, I have read the sequel to “Strega Nona,” “Big Anthony and the Magic Ring” by Tomie dePaola and it is just as hilarious as the first book! In this tale, Big Anthony gets into big trouble when he messes with Strega Nona's magic ring in order to have a little night life! “Big Anthony and the Magic Ring” is an instant treat for children young and old!

Oh my goodness! I never would have thought that the sequel to “Strega Nona” would be so hilarious! Tomie dePaola has done an excellent job at both writing and illustrating this book and I thought that Tomie dePaola's writing is beyond hilarious! I always loved the way that Big Anthony always seem so forgetful whenever he is doing work for Strega Nona, but whenever he comes to discovering one of Strega Nona's magical objects that might benefit him and he has to recite a chant to activate the magical object, he can really memorize those verses! I also loved the way that all the women in the village square started chasing after Big Anthony once he became “handsome” since it was so hilarious at seeing Big Anthony being chased by all the women of the village! I loved the way that Tomie dePaola incorporated various Italian words and phrases into this story such as “caro” and “un momento” into this story as it truly gave this story an Italian flare and it really helped me understand about the Italian language. Tomie dePaola's illustrations are extremely hilarious and my favorite illustrations were of Big Anthony turning into a handsome man as he truly looked like a prince that came out of fairy tales as his brown and unattractive shoes becomes beautiful tall boots and his mattered blond hair becomes elegantly combed out.

Overall, “Big Anthony and the Magic Ring” is a brilliant book for fans of the “Strega Nona” series and for children who enjoy reading Italian folktales. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since smaller children might have trouble understanding the Italian language used in this book.