Recently I received Greek Mythology’s Twelve Labors of Hercules: A Choose Your Path Book (Can You Survive?), which I read and reviewed over on 5 Minutes for Mom. The publisher was kind enough to send the rest of the set, and while deciding between “Dracula,” “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” and “Sherlock Holmes,” pretty much everyone in my family said I should read Bram Stoker’s Dracula as the next one to review. I’ve always been a fan of vampire stories, but have never read this classic novel, so it didn’t take much for me to agree.
Like the other Choose Your Path books, “Dracula” starts out with you as the main character, beckoned by a classic book. You’re then suddenly in the story as the main character, in this case, Jonathan Harker. As the story progresses you’re faced with choices – some lead to your death, others progress the story. And it’s not always obvious which is the “correct” path.
I really like these books as a way to introduce kids to classic literature. In the case of “Dracula,” as Jonathan Harker, you experience Dracula’s castle in Transylvania firsthand, then return to London where the vampire is wreaking havoc, and finally join Van Helsing in his chase of Dracula back to Transylvania. It’s a shortened version, revised to make it accessible to middle graders, but without losing the essence of the story. The adventure is exciting but not overbearing and will keep kids interested.
Jennifer and I have both read a few of these books, so click over to our reviews of Campfire Crisis, Treasure Island, and Call of the Wild.
Win a set of 10 Choose Your Path books
Also, make sure to click over to 5 Minutes for Mom to read my review of Hercules and enter to win a set of 10 of these books.