Description
Book SynopsisTake a tour through Israel with an unusually adorable zombie who desperately needs a break.
“Ruiz’s pictures of cuddly animals are absolutely adorable” – Kirkus Reviews
A zombie worries that he’ll never scare people again—perhaps he needs a vacation! Too bad the Sea of Galilee, the Israel Museum, and Luna Park in Tel Aviv don’t bring back his zombie-groove. Neither do famous monster locations around the world. Finally he goes to the Dead Sea, where a creepy hotel, a salty swim, and a facial with Dead Sea mud make him feel like himself again.
Where oh where can a tired, stressed-out zombie get a little rest and relaxation? Sounds like the Dead Sea might be perfect!
Trade ReviewZombies, it turns out, are a lot like Oscar the Grouch.
The undead Israeli narrator of this picture book hates Luna Park in Tel Aviv because the roller coaster has 'too many happy people' and the Israel Museum because it has 'too many beautiful things.' Zombies, it seems, prefer to vacation in crumbling hotels full of roaches and bedbugs. Grouchy readers, or anyone who’s sick of conventional travel guides, will love the vacation suggestions.
The main character goes to see endangered species they’re also almost dead and spends several pages visiting the Dead Sea. In fact, the book turns into an odd sort of advertisement for that site, with a two-page afterword answering questions like, 'How do you float in the Dead Sea?'
The promotion may not work on mainstream tourists, but the book will appeal to anyone with Charles Addams sense of humor. It’s relentlessly grim with one exception: Ruiz’s pictures of cuddly animals are absolutely adorable. Even the narrator ends up hugging a few kittens in a touching break of character.
But the pictures of the zombie are wonderfully grotesque, with bulging eyeballs and jagged teeth. The gray skin and youthful appearance (at age 800) also make the narrator's race and gender ambiguous, though the other characters come from a wide variety of faiths and ethnicities. But anyone who’s the least bit morbid will find the book hilarious.
Mordant readers will be thrilled to find a kindred soul. (Picture book. 5-8)
--Kirkus Reviews
