PEANUT BUTTER & BRAINS

Everyone knows zombies love to eat brains. What happens when one has a taste for something else, instead?

“Reginald was not like the other zombies,” preferring peanut-butter–and-jelly sandwiches to brains. Reginald tries the corner cafe, but no zombies are allowed there. He goes to the school cafeteria only to be served “a hunk of meat loaf” that “looked an awful lot like brains.” Oscar’s Grocery has the ingredients he needs, but all he has in his pockets are worms. When all hope seems lost, he spots a girl with a telltale jelly stain seeping through her paper bag. As Reginald shambles toward her, the rest of the zombies follow. They want brains, Reginald wants the sandwich, and the townspeople want them all to go away. In a bold move, Reginald seizes the bag—then throws the sandwich “into the crowd of drooling zombies.” As he suspected, the zombies love the peanut butter and jelly, much more than brains. With their bodies no longer in danger, the townspeople decide to welcome the zombies and keep them supplied with their new favorite food. Santoso milks the faux horror for all it is worth with his child-friendly illustrations in pen and ink and watercolor—imagine heads thrown back in terrified screams. Readers will chuckle as Reginald is grossed out in the cafeteria and cheer once all the creatures in Quirkville figure out a way to get along.

Run, don’t shamble, to get this original zombie tale.