Hello, friends! Our book today is the delightfully spooky Moldilocks and the Three Scares: A Zombie Tale, written by Lynne Marie and illustrated by David Lorenzo.

In a creepy mansion, the three Scares – Papa (a Frankenstein-esque monster), Mama (a science-loving mummy with an iconic black-and-white bouffant), and Baby (a young, ginger vampire boy), prepare for a dreadfully delicious dinner. But the Alpha-Bat soup that Papa has cooked up is still too hot, so the three take their ghost hound, Plasma, for a walk while it cools. That’s when Moldilocks, a recently risen zombie girl, comes across the mansion. Filled with warm food and cozy furniture, Moldilocks makes herself at home, testing the three Scares’ accoutrements (often finding one of them to be “just right”). Taking a nap in Baby Scare’s bed, she doesn’t hear the spooky family return to their rifled-through items and already-eaten meal. Yet when the family finds the culprit, their reaction may come as a surprise…

At first, I figured this would be a typical fairy tale with a spooky filter that you see around the holiday; nothing against them, they can be fun if done well. However, I was SO pleasantly surprised by the real twist of this tale: it’s an adoption story. Teased early in the narrative that there’s a empty space in the Scares’ lives, when they find Moldilocks in Baby’s bed, they happily welcome her into their home and declare her part of the family. It’s a surprisingly heartwarming turn that gives the otherwise fun, silly monster story some emotional weight, and introduces a bit of inclusion for non-traditional families. The “horror” elements are relatively tame; even as a “zombie”, Moldilocks isn’t decayed, nor does she hunger for brains. The illustrations are a cute sort of creepy that kids who love Halloween spookiness and puns will appreciate. The length was great, and JJ loved it. This was a delightful surprise of a book, and a festive way to remember that a family doesn’t have to be biological to be “just right”. Baby Bookworm approved!

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)