cover image I'm the Scariest Thing in the Castle

I'm the Scariest Thing in the Castle

Kevin Sherry. Dial, $6.99 (26p) ISBN 978-0-8037-3390-9

Sherry's (I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean and I'm the Best Artist in the Ocean!) latest hubristic hero, a purple vampire bat who makes the titular claim, is debuting in a board book, unlike his predecessors. Though he looks about as harmless as a puppy, he demonstrates (quite mischievously) his spooky superiority to spiders, a skeleton, a mummy, and even a werewolf. Nothing shakes him%E2%80%94until the lights go out, and the other castle residents give him a scare. Sherry does a great job establishing the bat's boastful, mischievous, and (to his peers) annoying personality; readers will enjoy seeing him get a taste of his own medicine and embrace a new identity as "the cutest thing in this castle!" Up to age 2. (Aug.)