Review by Booklist Review
Once the property of only the most demented of gore hounds, zombies have lurched their way through YA, middle grade, and now, finally, perfectly sweet picture books. Mortimer was lonely begins this ghoulish little charmer, and indeed we see the green-faced guy looking despondent upon his coffin-sofa by the light of a human-hand candle. All of Mortimer's attempts at amour fail: his box of chocolates has worms; the heart he gives to the mail carrier has veins; the diamond ring he offers up still has a finger in it. Undead but undaunted, he buys a tux (from the local funeral home) and attends the local Cupid's Ball. Arranged upon pages as tall and narrow as gothic headstones, Campbell's watercolors are a murky mix of green and brown until Mortimer hits the dance, at which point a world of pink humorously invades the gloom. It's impossible not to root for this luckless, lovelorn lumberer. Does he find love? Let's just say the final illustration is of a car painted with the words His & Hearse. --Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Zombies have filtered down from YA to middle readers, and now there's a picture book for the youngest zombie fans. Campbell, a comics and video game artist, gives Mortimer the zombie just the right degree of repellant charm-he has pet worms who play cards, a headstone for a computer monitor, and a goggle-eyed dog who gnaws on a hand that may or may not be real. Mortimer's gifts for girls fall flat (a still-beating heart, a ring on a disembodied finger), and he fears he won't find a date for Cupid's Ball. Nobody answers his personal ad, written to the tune of Rupert Holmes's "Escape" ("If you like taking walks in the graveyard/ and falling down in the rain"); it might be his smile, to which Campbell devotes a closeup-greenish, with fuzzy peg teeth. After rejections that will make lovelorn readers flinch, Mildred the girl zombie shows up at last, and she's "drop-dead gorgeous." DiPucchio (The Sandwich Swap) exchanges zombie horror for romantic agony; instead of fearing him, the thin-skinned will suffer right along with hapless Mortimer. Ages 4-8. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-Mortimer the zombie is lonely and desperately wants a sweetheart, but every time he reaches out to a human girl, disaster strikes. The wormy chocolates disgust, the real heart terrifies, and the ring on a severed finger scares. He just doesn't seem to have that devil-may-care romantic dash. He places a personal ad, and, on the night of the Cupid's Ball, he waits and waits for the right girl to arrive. Finally, she does and makes a disastrous entrance, knocking over the punch bowl. She smiles at him with the same Frankensteinlike teeth he has and his heart melts. This silly story features loads of sight gags that sharp-eyed children will enjoy. When the zombie is working out and his arm falls off, chuckles are guaranteed. The color cartoon illustrations are over-the-top, which makes the comic effects even more obvious. This giggler will grab those children who like their zombies funny.-Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Zombies are all the rage with teens, and stories of lovelorn adolescent lads trying to find the perfect girl in time for the big dance abound. This quest for companionship, however, is aimed at a decidedly younger crowd.DiPucchio and Campbell pair their considerable talents to tell the tale of poor Mortimer, a zombie looking for love in all the wrong places. At the gym, others freak out when his arm breaks off while lifting weights. While taking dance lessons, his only partner is an uncooperative skeleton. But then he decides to place a personal ad in the newspaper: "If you like taking walks in the graveyard / and falling down in the rain. / If you're not into cooking, / if you have half a brain. / ...I'm dying to meet you!" Mortimer goes to the ball with high hopes, but the night drags on as his attentions are repeatedly spurned. Just as he is about to leave he hears a crash. "There on the floor was a girl...and she was drop-dead gorgeous." Text loaded with humorous understatement and Campbell's skillfully detailed watercolors in a palette of decay (think watery reds, putrid grays and sickly greens) are both clever and delightfully gross. When Mortimer offers his heart to a girl, the undead gent presents his actual organ.Probably best suited for sharing with primary graders, who will squirm between fits of laughter.(Picture book. 6-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
