Little Dracula at the Seashore

Waddell and Wright take youngsters on two wacky excursions into the world of the green-faced, fanged Dracula family. Bats fly freely around Castle Dracula, where Igor bowls with a skeleton head, the children sleep in miniature coffins after downing a comforting bedtime glass of blood and the pet dog is--literally--all bones. In the first volume, this macabre clan visits the seashore, where they cavort underwater and sample such amusements as the house of horrors and the ghost train. The second book describes Little Dracula's first night at school--the Academy for Boys and Ghouls--where his classmates are monsters of all shapes and colors, and lunch consists of eyeballs and slimy green creatures. Though the concept here is one with intrinsic kid appeal, it is Wright's outlandish, detail-packed cartoons that make these titles a monstrous success. Too silly to be truly spooky, this is all good, ghoulish fun. Ages 4-up. (Mar.)