Fangs A Lot, Sis! Vampire Baby by Kelly Bennett

"YOUCH! TOOTIE! NO BITE!"

When his adorable baby sister Tootie gets her first teeth, it's a big event. Not because they are charming little baby front teeth, but because her first teeth are her canines--FANGS! The pediatrician says it's "most unusual," but not unheard of, and mom and dad shrug and point out that Tootie will grow all her regular baby teeth in the next few months.

But Big Brother knows better. Tootie is a vampire baby! There are those two sharp little fangs, and then, just look at her hair. Tootie has a perfect widow's peak, just like Dracula. All her favorite baby foods are red like blood. And she doesn't sleep in the middle of the night. Wahhh!

And then--there's the biting!

"YOU WOULD THINK I COULD JUST KEEP AWAY FROM HER. BUT IT'S NOT THAT EASY!

TOOTIE STARTS OUT ADORABLE.... SHE WAITS UNTIL I'M IN FANG REACH AND THEN...

CHOMP!"

Mom and Dad just point out that all babies chew on everything while they're teething. But Big Brother decides that his parents just don't get Tootie's true nature. So on a pre-Halloween trip to the costume store, he slicks her hair back and dresses her in an adorable little Vampire cape--and hangs a hand-lettered sign on her stroller:

WANTED

GOOD HOME

FOR VAMPIRE BABY

The plan seems to be working. A jolly family--mother, father, boy--festively dressed in look-alike vampire costumes, spot the cute baby vampire in Aisle 13 and seem to be taking the bait.

The boy bends over Tootie's stroller and burbles baby talk at her:

"HELLO, CUTEY-WOOTIE! WANT TO GO HOMEY-WOMEY WITH US?"

But true to form, Tootie can't resist the boy's pinkish nose right in her face. She bites!

"AAARRGH! BAD BABY!"

Suddenly Big Brother's protective instincts are aroused.

WATCH OUT HOW YOU TALK TO MY BABY SISTER!" HE SHOUTS, SCOOPING UP TOOTIE.

Family solidarity wins out in Kelly Bennett's brand-new Vampire Baby (Candlewick, 2013), comically illustrated by the veteran Paul Meisel.  It's a simple little family story that meshes well with the pre-Halloween season for younger readers, especially those with baby siblings to deal with at home, and as School Library Journal points out, " Young listeners may enjoy repeating, "Youch, Tootie! No bite!"