Zombelina by Kristyn Crow

Ill. by Molly Idle. Bloomsbury, 2013. ISBN 9780802728043.
(Age: 4+) Picture book. Zombies. Humour. Family. Zombelina loves to dance. She dances with a spectre, dances like a ghost, wiggles with werewolves and boogies with bats, but more than anything she loves dancing for her family, her mother, the witch, her father and brother, both vampires. In their house at Twisted Tree Lane are all the things which make up ghost and scary stories, which readers will love to find in the colourful illustrations.
Sometimes when Zombelina gets engrossed in her dancing, parts of her body come off, and a leg may end up in the air but she keeps going. Mum and Dad enroll her in a real ballet school, buying her all the accoutrements which she will need as a ballet student.
She practices with all her might, until on the night all the girls are arranged on the stage, she comes down with stage fright, and cannot move.
But no worries, her parents save the day in this endearing look at family love and support.
Girls particularly will enjoy reading about this little girl and her attempts to learn ballet, and boys will love the background of the house at Twisted Tree Lane.
Fran Knight