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By Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
Illustrated by Howard Fine
Harper-Collins, 2011
$16.99, ages 4-8, 32 pages
A hungry duck makes a late-night dash for a snack, as a fanged beast prowls the farm yard for his next delicious victim, in this hilarious story of misunderstandings.
Until now, no farm animal dared to step a talon or hoof out of its pen when the moon was bright for fear of becoming prey for a great cloaked hog known as Hampire.
They'd seen enough grisly remains from Hampire's feedings, the sticky red fluid dripping off the grass and the red stains on his canines as he returned to his pen.
But on this night Duck is too hungry to be sensible. The rumbling in his tummy is keeping him awake and all he can think about is snacking on the jelly rolls and ice-cream bowls in farmer's kitchen.
So Duck slips out of the barn and into the farmhouse to pile goodies onto a tray to take back to the barn. But as he steps back into the night air, a haunting, ruddy presence rises up behind him: It's Hampire, "grim and dire."
Frantic, Duck flaps off to the chicken coop as Hampire lumbers in pursuit with fangs bared. Duck quickly rouses Red the chicken and yells for him to hide, then both fly the coop as Hampire snuffles his nose inside.
"As Duck raced Red to Pony's stall, / They heard the Hampire screaming. / 'I'm starved, of course -- / I'd eat a horse!' / His pointy fangs were gleaming."
Hampire's rant feeds their fears and they climb onto Pony's back and gallop off to an abandoned shed, as the tray of goodies teeters on Duck's wing. Inside they hear Hampire bellow out that he's hungry and plead with them to let him in.
But none of them trust the beast, so they slam the door in his face and run to the farthest wall to cower in a corner. As Hampire pounds on the walls, Duck d
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