The Celery Stalks at Midnight by James Howe

August 4, 2017     erinthebooknut     Book review

The Celery Stalks at Midnight by James HoweThe Celery Stalks at Midnight (Bunnicula, #3) by James Howe, Leslie H. Morrill
Published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers on October 1st 2006
Pages: 144
Goodreads

HARE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW

Bunnicula is missing! Chester is convinced all the world's vegetables are in danger of being drained of their life juices and turned into zombies. Soon he has Harold and Howie running around sticking toothpicks through hearts of lettuce and any other veggie in sight. Of course, Chester has been known to be wrong before...but you can never be too careful when there's a vampire bunny at large!

 

3.5 Nuts

My least favorite of the Bunnicula Series, THE CELERY STALKS AT MIDNIGHT is probably one of the cleverer titles in the set. It’s not a bad book, not at all. It’s just not AS good as the rest of the series. The worst of great is still pretty good.

This book introduces us to Howie, the hyper little wired haired dachshund puppy who was born at Chateau Bow-Wow in the previous book. Chester believes that, like his parents, Howie is part werewolf due to his strangely bone chilling howl. Still, he puts up with the energetic pup who insists on calling him “Pop” and Harold “Uncle Harold”.

Most of the rest of the book is a giant wild goose chase around town, lead by Chester and his fanaticism. Between vegetable related humor and vampire jokes, CELERY STALKS is quite pun-y but lacks in a substantial plot. I enjoy the jokes but the other books in the series are much stronger in terms of story and engagement.

The best part of this book is the new addition of Howie who is mostly comic relief. Chester, as always, is my favorite character whose sarcastic nature and obsessive reading has given him an overactive imagination paired with a sharp tongue. Harold is your usual laid back Harold, functioning as narrator and level headed team member.

This book continues with the Editor’s Note at the beginning, something I look forward to in each and every book. It’s funny to see how Harold X progresses as an author, getting himself and agent and becoming a “big shot” author.

I still highly recommend this book to young readers, especially those just starting out with chapter books. They’re short, humorous, and entertaining. Adults can still appreciate these books and even the audiobooks are fun for all ages to listen to. Victor Garber is a fantastic narrator.

Who is your favorite Bunnicula character? Share in the comments.

From my shelf to yours,

Erin

 

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