“There’s a Zombie in the Basement” by Stan Yan

THERE’S A ZOMBIE IN THE BASEMENT

Stan Yan
Mascot Books (2016)
ISBN 9780975504130
Reviewed by Willow Cramer (age 7) for Reader Views Kids (2/17)

“There’s a Zombie in the Basement” by Stan Yan is about a little boy who is afraid that something is trying to come get him. At the end of the book, he realizes that the monsters are all friends and family, and there’s nothing really to be scared of because it’s all in his mind.

My favorite part of the book is that Milo learns that there is nothing to be afraid of. I also liked the art. It was very talented and thought-worthy: there was good imagination.

Now that I think of it, I really liked how the book let me draw my own fear at the end. I drew a vampire who just drank someone’s blood. That is really scary. I am so scared that a vampire will come in and drink my blood because I know they will hypnotize you and you will lie down and feel like you already dead. But I know they aren’t real. They are just old myths.

I did not like the part where Milo was so scared that he kept calling on his mommy and daddy. I also did not like that he was so scared and sleepy that he got sent to the principal’s office.

The funniest part of the book is when the pink-colored pony was sitting on the mime’s shoulders. I kept thinking that the mime must be thinking, “This is pony is heavy! I am so crushed!”

I really liked “There’s a Zombie in the Basement” by Stan Yan for the message and the crushed mime. Nothing else really stuck out to me. Although I understand the message (that there is nothing to be scared of and it’s all in my mind), I still need my monkey and night-lights to sleep with.