Matt Novak Book No Zombies Allowed

Book Description
Monsters can be so annoying. Just ask Witch Wizzle and Witch Woddle.

They will tell you horror stories about the nasty habits and bad manners of zombies, werewolves. swamp creatures, ghosts, skeletons, and vampires.

Now it's Halloween again. Wizzle and Woddle are planning another party - but who will they invite?
Reviews
FROM PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Novak (The Pillow War) turns the habits of zombies, witches, werewolves and other creatures from haunting to hilarious in this tale of an annual monster bash. As wart-nosed and pop-eyed witches Wizzle and Woddle prepare to host the party, they discover photos from last year's soiree that make them reconsider the guest list. "Those zombies kept dropping their eyes into the punch bowl," they recall, and "the skeletons kept calling everyone Fatso." The pair posts one sign after another ("No zombies allowed"). Whimsically patterned spreads reminiscent of Tedd Arnold's work depict enlarged snapshots of their friends' shenanigans against backgrounds of Pepto-Bismol pink and scaly green. Two cartoon-like zombies-one holding his eyeball and the other with only a tattered sleeve where an arm should be-mug for the camera in one; in another, swamp creatures party in the toilet and tub. But when the witches recognize each other as the culprits in a pair of pranks, the guest list grows once again, and a fun punchline offers a clever coda. Novak skillfully balances the gruesome factor with a spoof on spookiness while delivering a message about acceptance and tolerance with a very light touch. Ages 3-6.

CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

The snaggle-toothed and warty-nosed witches in this story have decided that they want to host another monster party. As Wizzle and Woodle start preparing they come upon pictures from the previous year's party. It reminds them that some pretty awful thing happened at the party—the zombies dropped their eyes in the punch, the werewolves soughed up furballs and the swamp creatures tracked slime all over the house. As they discover each picture they prepare signs and post them in the yard—no zombies allowed, , no werewolves allowed, no swamp creatures allowed. Finally they see pictures of themselves up to mischief themselves sprinkling a love potion over the snake snacks and turning everyone into frogs. As they reflect on it, it wasn't really a bad party, so they quickly build a bonfire and get rid of all the signs and once again the party begins—only this time no photos are allowed. It is amusing, both in the art and the text. — Marilyn Courtot

FROM SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

K-Gr 2-Witch Wizzle and Witch Woddle's annual monster bash is plagued by party planning's primary predicament: the guest list. Looking at photos that help them recall a slew of unsavory incidents from the previous year, the hostesses decide to ban former guests, such as the zombies for dropping their eyeballs into the punch bowl and the werewolves for coughing up furballs. Also struck from the invitation list: swamp creatures, skeletons, ghosts, and vampires. Still on the banning bandwagon, the two set their sights on a couple of witches that had turned their guests into frogs. But pictures don't lie, and they discover that the spell casters were none other than themselves. Novak's fondness for silliness is put to good use in his dual role as author and illustrator. The text is engaging, the dialogue is ironic, and the characters are true to form. The watercolor illustrations are bright and eye-catching, and the cheerfully depicted creatures will be nonthreatening to the youngest listeners. New readers will find plenty of white space around the text to help them focus on the words, with the art complementing the action. The two witches learn a good lesson about the social hazards of being exclusionary: it takes all kinds to make the monster world go around, even zombies and werewolves.-Carol L. MacKay, Camrose Public Library, Alberta, Canada