"Stompie the Zombie" contains zany and fantastical illustrations, perfect for anyone who loves Halloween or the spookier characters in fiction. My only concern with the story was the over-abundance of puns. They were fun, do not get me wrong, but the amount caused the humor to dry up rather quickly. The color of the font also caused words to disappear into some of the illustrations, which cost one the ability to follow the entire plot. While whimsical in so many fun ways, I would have to pass on this title, but would love to see more from the author.

A funny punny book about a zombie who has an injury and also the support of his zombie family. Stompie plans a family reunion and then almost misses it due to an injury. His family comes together to make it all work out in the end.

The illustrations in this were incredibly bright and fun! My 2.5 yo made me read this to her 3 times in a row! This book was a hit with all of the super natural beings (my child lovesssss Halloween). I plan to purchase her a physical copy so she can flip through it as much as she wants. The story was so fun and fantatical. I’d say this is probably best for ages 3-5 but it wasn’t too much for my 2.5 yo since she was very interested in the pictures.

This one is too cute! All of the punny names were perfect; “urgent scare”, “gross-ery store”, “squeal chair” (to name a few).

Synopsis: Stompie just wants a fun family reunion (because he hasn’t seen his family in 500 years)! When he gets injured, he thinks the reunion is no longer going to work out, and he’s very disappointed. Things definitely turn around thanks to Itchy Witchy!

Review: I definitely want to buy this book for my toddler when it releases! I also want to buy a few copies for my friends and their kids! My only complaint is that the story doesn’t overall rhyme, and my brain wanted it to as I read it.

Definitely don’t miss out on Stompie the Zombie! Grab it for a little one near you. 🫶🏼

Thank you to NetGalley & Two Lions Publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Releases August 12, 2025!

Thank you so much to Two Lions and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

Stompie is having a long overdue family reunion, but as he goes to get his supplies for the party, he hurts himself landing him in the hospital. He deems his reunion ruined and thinks he won’t see his family now, but a surprise is in store for him.

This was hilarious, utterly hilarious. It was full of puns and played on the words, it was such an amazingly hilarious book. I loved seeing the changed words to suit the characters in the book, it really made it so much funnier and added so much to the book.

We had such an array of characters from zombies, to vampires, to witches, I really loved seeing them all come together within this book. Poor Stompie, breaking his leg the way he did, it looked painful. The illustrations and story work perfectly together seeing the story unfolding and all the characters, I also loved his zombie dog it was the cutest.

A hilarious and fun read perfect for young ones to enjoy, to also a great book if you like to read books with slightly creepy characters in or like to read specifically for Halloween, either way this works perfectly for a general read or a Halloween read.

Such a cute story! My son giggled so hard reading this and he was so interested in it! Super super cute!

This is THE CUTEST halloween time book for toddlers and little kids! I would 100% buy this to add to my son's collection. I love all of the cute play on words like "Grossery store" "Marrow escape" "urgent scare". The graphics are adorable and while kids may not get the puns, this makes it a fun read for adults too. The storyline is adorable and it is overall a super cute read. I would highly recommend this for anyone with small kids and even pre-K/KG classrooms.

Edited to add, I read this to my 3 year old and he has already reciting it, asking where his real book is—I will be purchasing more books by this author and specifically this book as soon as I can!

The pictures in this book are so bright and cute, and I absolutely loved Stompie, a zombie who hasn't seen his family for 500 years and decides to invite them to a reunion. Everything is going so well as he gets ready-- until he gets hurt! Will this interfere with his plans? This is a warm hearted, sweet book about zombies. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

This was about a zombie family reunion. This was original and super cute with the colorful illustrations! I would read this to my own children or have it available at a library where students could pick it out themselves. It would be a good addition to an October reading collection for my class.

I really loved the artwork in the books. The colour palette was beautiful. Unfortunately, I wasn’t particularly drawn in by the story and felt like a lot of the puns would just go straight over the heads of the lower end of the recommended age for this book. Given that the story heavily relied on the puns throughout the book, I think this would only be enjoyed the older end of the reading bracket.

Stompie the Zombie is excited for his family reunion and busy preparing when he gets hurt and has to go to Urgent Scare. The text was cute with lots of puns and the illustrations were really fun. My daughter didn't love that Stompie got hurt and needed surgery at Urgent Scare. That part definitely had her very concerned.

Thank you to NetGalley and Two Lions for the ARC.

This book is a cute story about some spooky beings getting together for a family reunion and celebrating despite a setback. The illustrations are great. My only critique is that not all of the all-capitalized words were actually puns. If I could give half stars, I’d say 3.5/5.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

HILARIOUS and so PUN-NY! I loved reading this story and found all the puns so funny! Made me laugh out loud! Binny Talib's illustrations are gorgeous, so detailed and full of vibrant colors and textures! I look forward to checking out more books by Margery Cuyler and Binny Talib!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a perfect children's book for the Halloween season! The main character is likeable, the illustrations are beautiful, and I really enjoyed the play on words throughout the story.

I read this with my toddler to help him learn more English, and he absolutely loved it! The illustrations were engaging, and even as a non-native speaker, he easily grasped the story and enjoyed listening to me read it aloud.

I also appreciated the humor for adults—it made the reading experience more fun for me as a parent. Seeing my little one’s face light up, especially when all the characters came together, was the best part. This is definitely a book we’ll be revisiting!

This book just gives you so many feelings. Stompie is just such a loveable character and does not want to disappoint anyone. The illustrations made me want to keep going back to different pages to notice more little details.

Cute halloween read that talks about overcoming obstacles when things don't go as you plan them. I loved the illustrations the most, and the puns were a nice touch. I will say my (almost) 5 year old was not as interested as he normally is. I think the wording/flow of the story could be a little better. But otherwise it was a good time :)
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC 💖

Thank you for the ARC. We love Halloween in this house so we were excited to read this. This pictures were cute but the puns were then best and even had me laughing. This is a cute children’s book but as an adult, I enjoyed it as well.

As a mom of four, and the self proclaimed "Halloween Queen" this book has found its target audience! My kindergartener has just reached that phase where she has started telling "dad jokes" and this book is full of them! The puns were punny and had the kids giggling - which is all you can ask for when you're reading with your kids. This is a book I can see them choosing over and over again until we have it all memorized.

Thanks for the fun!

My children and I absolutely LOVED Stompie the Zombie!

Our favorite things from the story:
*my ten year old said the illustrations were her favorite part of the story — especially Scar the zombie dog!
*my thirteen year old loved the puns throughout; she thought they were funny and very clever!
*my eight year old’s favorite thing? The comment about the finger food! He loved the idea of gross food items. (The GROSS-ery store? So PUNNY!)
*I especially enjoyed the different family members and their names and portraits in the beginning of the book. Stories mean more to me when they’ve got roots grounding them and this storybook was no different for me… I loved the different family members! And the artwork in this book is truly something to behold!!!

I loved that it was a book we could all genuinely enjoy together. It’s an especially great story to read together around Halloween or Day of the Dead but truly it’s something to adore anytime of year.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing us to preview this book!