Dracula

By Bram Stoker
Retold by Tim Wynne-Jones
Illustrated by Laszlo Gal
Key Porter Kids, 1997
Ages 10+
1.5/5

Dracula is a re-telling of Stoker's novel by the same name. Englishman Jonathan Harker discovers that the Transylvanian count for whom he is negotiating the purchase of an estate near London is actually a vampire. When Dracula arrives in England he seduces and destroys the friend of Harker's fiancee. Harker and his friend, Dr. Van Helsing, must find a way to stop Dracula forever.

I had several problems with this book. The first is that although the idea of exposing young people to a piece of classic fiction by converting it into a picture book may seem smart, Dracula is simply too scary for most children, even when attempts have been made to lessen the fear factor. I consider this book unsuitable for children under the age of ten, and some parents may still find it inappropriate.

Secondly, although the story has been extensively edited, it is still very long and complicated. There is a lot of text on each page, and much of it reads with a stilted feeling (although this may be an effort to retain some of the style of the original novel). The several switches in narration would be confusing to a less advanced reader.

Thirdly, Gal's illustrations, while probably meant to enhance the creepy mood of the story, resemble the pencil-crayon drawings of a high school student. They are suitably somber, yet feel 2-D and fuzzy, as though something is wrong with the perspective. Some pages have dark text over backgrounds like falling snow or stone walls, which makes it difficult to read.

Although this book is meant to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the publication of Stoker's Dracula, in this case I think both the story and pictures are of unfortunately low quality.