Book and Audiobook Review of Bunnicula: A Rabbit-tale of Mystery by James and Deborah Howe; Audiobook Narrated by Victor Garber

Silliness abounds in this story that revolves around a vampiric bunny (who "bleeds" vegetables so dry they turn white) and the family dog and cat whose reception of said bunny is not exactly warm and fuzzy.
We read this book for a homeschool kid's book club that my girls have become involved with. We also listened to the audiobooks that were so wonderfully read by Victor Garber (who played Jack Bristow in Alias, Professor Callahan in Legally Blond, etc.) He has a beautifully rich voice that gives the perfect blend of hilarity and drama to the story.

Here is what my 8 year-old Olivia has to say:

This is my new favorite book, about a family who finds a bunny at a Dracula movie, of all places. Harold, the dog (who narrates the story) finds a note attached to the bunny written in an obscure Carpathian dialect, and because Harold is a Russian wolfhound, he can read it. Harold and Chester the cat get suspicious about the bunny, whom the family names Bunnicula.
I like it because the main characters are animals. It's sort of a mystery. It's interesting to read because the boys in the story argue like my sister and I do. And the cat is smart but crazy.

You can read more tales about Bunnicula, Harold, and Chester:
Howliday Inn
The Celery Stalks at Midnight
Nighty-Nightmare
Return to Howliday Inn
Bunnicula Strikes Again
Bunnicula Meets Edgar Allen Crow

Audiobook Review: Bless This Mouse by Lois Lowry; narrated by Bernadette Dunne

 "A resilient and quirky colony of church mice fears another Great X more than they fear cats. Under Mouse Mistress Hildegarde’s leadership, they save themselves from one danger after another—sometimes just by the skin of their tails! Can one ultimate act of bravery during the feast day of St. Francis get Father Murphy to bless these mice and keep them safe forever? (Synopsis from Goodreads)

I didn't really think that my girls would be very interested in the story, but I figured I'd play the audiobook while I had them "trapped" in the car on a long drive to a family reunion site, because I really wanted to hear it. Boy, was I wrong about their reaction. There was not a peep from the older two, as they avidly listened, and they frantically shushed their three-year-old sister if she made a peep.
We had just finished the first disc (there are two) when we arrived at our destination. And for the next two days, they speculated back and forth about what would happen next. They even asked if they could go sit in the car to finish the rest of the story. But I made them wait until the trip home. We borrowed this from the library, but now my girls are hounding me to buy it. Oh, twist my arm, please!
A wonderful listening experience. Dunne's voicing of the characters was just perfect. She gave each their own distinct voice, matching the voice with their personality and age, in a manner that was never overly dramatic: just perfect.