About the Holiday

With summer weather beginning to cool and fall on the horizon, kids’ thoughts naturally turn to the thrills and chills of Halloween! Whether your kids like spine-chillers, ghost stories, or stories that make them giggle, Halloween-themed books are a rib-tickling way to enjoy the season. Digging into today’s book is a perfect way to unearth your Halloween spirit!

The Zombees

Written by Justin Colón | Illustrated by Kaly Quarles

A witch-y trick-or-treater passing by the graveyard gate is startled by a “creepy buzzing sound” as “fuzzy legs” emerge from tombs “spewing funky, fetid fumes.” As these undead zombees rise into the sky and toward the town, the freaked-out trick-or-treater worries: “Are they hunting for a snack?/Do they like the taste of veins?/Have they come to EAT YOUR BRAINS?!”

Illustration © 2025 by Kaly Quarles. Text © 2025 by Justin Colón. Courtesy of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

She runs for safety into the library, where the librarian frantically phones for help. In their beekeeper’s suits and armed with smokers, the rescuers arrive . . .. But wait! Hacking through the noxious fog, the zombees declare “‘We mean no harm—we come in peace.'” In fact, since no one ever rings their bell on Halloween, the bees have come to town to deliver a very special treat. 

After enjoying the festivities, it’s time for the bees to buzz back home. There, as they wipe away makeup with “Boo Gone” and take off their costumes, they relive all the fun they had. And though their “ghoulish work is done” for this year, they’re already planning for next Halloween! 

Illustration © 2025 by Kaly Quarles. Text © 2025 by Justin Colón. Courtesy of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Kids will be buzzing to hear Justin Colón’s bee-riff-ic mashup of zombie lore and the scary delights of Halloween again and again. Colón’s free-flowing rhymes are perfect for dramatic, spooky-voiced read alouds during the Halloween season and beyond.

Kaly Quarles concocts an atmospheric brew of foggy graveyards, ghostly creepers, and moldering zombees that will give kids giddy shivers. The clever costumes her trick-or-treaters wear as they fan out across town may inspire readers’ Halloween looks. Kids will also want to keep their eyes out for the visual puns, allusions to bees and honey, and the humorous shenanigans of the witch’s cat.

Shivery Halloween fun is in the bag with The Zombees, an inventive romp that will find plenty of life in any library collection.

Ages 4 – 8

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2025 | ISBN 978-1665922500

About the Author

Justin Colón is a professional actor and children’s book author. His previous picture books include The Quacken (illustrated by Pablo Pino) and Impossible Possums (illustrated by James Rey Sanchez). A lover of Halloween and zombie movies, Justin is also a backyard beekeeper. Though his bees sometimes frighten the neighbors, they’ve never tried to eat their brains—something Justin takes great pride in. He lives in New York, but you can visit him at JustinColonBooks.com.

About the Illustrator

Kaly Quarles studied interior design and worked in architecture before landing in illustration. Her love for historic shopfronts, Victoriana, and vintage ephemera runs deep. When Kaly isn’t drawing with a cat in her lap, she’s hunting for obscure antiques, watching or reading historical fiction, or hosting one-woman pastry-eating contests. Visit her on kalyquarles.com.

Get Ready for Halloween Activity

The Zombees Activity Pages

Kids will have lots of Halloween fun with The Zombees and seven spooktacular activity sheets—including coloring pages and puzzles—from Justin Colón and Kaly Quarles. Educators also will have a blast sharing this book with the fantastic Educator Guide that includes ELA, Math, Science, and Art Extension Activities! They’re all found on Justin Colón’s website!  

The Zombees Activity Pages | The Zombees Educator Guide

You can purchase Zombees from these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop

Picture Book Review