Fang Ten! Gibbus Moony Wants to Bite You by Leslie Muir

GIBBUS MOONY'S BABY FANGS HAD FALLEN OUT.

HE SMILED INTO THE MIRROR.

THE TEENY TINY TIPS OF HIS GROWN-UP FANGS TWINKLED.

NO ONE COULD CALL HIM THE BABY OF THE FAMILY ANYMORE.

Gibb just can't wait to take his new teeth out for a trial run. "I want to bite someone!" he announces.

Grandpa Waning Moony is on him right away, pointing out that his family are all proud "nectarines," "juice suckers" unlike those, ahem, other unmentionable cousins of theirs. But the littlest Moony can't restrain the urge to bite a neck, even when the neck of a violin turns out to be more toothpicks than toothsome!

In a vampirian sulk Gibby takes himself outdoors to hang out under his favorite hanging around tree, and when he drifts into a dream of succulent sucking, he suddenly awakens to find himself the unwilling object of a trio of human toothies from a toddler's three new teeth. Gibby take refuge in the tree, hanging from his favorite limb to hide his wounded pride, as the new boy next door climbs up to hang from his knees beside him and commiserates.

"WATCH OUT. THAT'S MANDY, MY BABY SISTER. WE CALL HER 'MANDIBLES,'" HE EXPLAINS.

"SHE BITES EVERYTHING!

BITING IS FOR BABIES!" Moe adds definitvely.

Hmmmm! Gib suddenly sees his yen to bite in a totally new light!

Embarrassed, he grabs a apple from the tree and buries his fangs in fruit.

"UPSIDE-DOWN APPLES ARE TOTALLY TOOTHSOME!" SAYS HIS NEW FRIEND.

"FANGTABULOUS!" SAYS GIBBY.

Jen Corace's illustrations are also fangtabulously apropos in Leslie Muir's latest, Gibbus Moony Wants to Bite You! (Atheneum, 2011), a fang fable that is totally on target for the coming scary season. Vampires are always fair game for a bit of farce, and this fangtastic toothsome tale will go down nice and easy with the storytime crowd.