Review Detail

Don't Wake Dracula (Junior Monster Scouts)

Kids Fiction 270

Let's Go Fly a Kite... With Gargoyles!

October 12, 2025 (Updated: June 15, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

4.0

Monster Scouts Vampyra, Franky, and Wolfy want to fly kites on a beautiful spring day, but Vampyra's Aunt Moonflower cautions the group that Dracula is sleeping and doesn't want to be awoken. They gather sticks, string, and paper to construct their own kites, and then head out onto the grounds of Castle Dracula to fly them. Everything goes well until the kites go too close to the castle and wake up the grumpy gargoyles! They swoop down and voice their displease to the trio, who are afraid that the gargoyles will raise a ruckus! Instead, they challenge the gargoyles to a contest to see who can fly the highest. Even tying all three kite strings together doesn't let their kites go as high as the gargoyles, but that's okay; the stone guardians fly so high that Dracula can't hear them. Eventually, Dracula wakes up from his nap on his own, and the scouts are relieved that they got to fly their kites and didn't get in trouble.

Good Points

It is possible to make your own kite, something which young children might not know! I loved that the scouts took it upon themselves to think up an activity, plan it, and then spent the day outside in the fresh air. I did have some questions about Vampyra and Dracula being near sunlight, but perhaps that was addressed in one of the ten earlier books in this series.

The text moves along quickly, and most of the words are fine for independent reading, although kids may need some help when meeting the word "gargoyle" for the first time! Some words, like "quiet" and "relief" are also hard to pronounce the first time, but will become sight words when read enough.

Long's illustrations capture the gloominess of the castle and the contrasting sunny day nicely, and I loved that Dracula is curled up with his teddy bear!

Parents who read all the Dadey and Jones' Bailey School Kids books in the 1990s will be glad to introduce their new readers to a fun and spooky series that has a similar vibe. Junior Monster Scouts books are a great choice for readers who find Schwartz's In a Dark, Dark Room a little too spooky but want something a little scarier than Schaefer and Hartung's Happy Halloween, Mittens.