When Sam's doughnut is left "wrinkly and dry," completely drained of its filling, who could be to blame? Two suspicious fangmarks are the only clue. Sam won't stand for this kind of insult, so he "set a trap before going to bed/ and used his dry doughnut as bait./ In place of the jam he used ketchup instead,/ then hid under the covers to wait." His laundry-basket trap nabs two pale "jampires" with enormous round eyes, pointy-eared hoods, and lips red with jam (or, at the moment, ketchup). Though jam and blood look a lot alike, McIntyre and O'Connell play this story for laughs-there's never a moment of concern that the jampires might turn their fangs on Sam. Instead, they apologize profusely (they simply wandered too far from home and got hungry) and take the boy on a whirlwind tour of the Candyland-like "land of the Jampires," which is filled with mountainous desserts and layer-cake cities, as well as cookies, macarons, and other goodies. Galloping verse and cartoons dusted with humor and magic add up to a light, dessert-themed mystery that's both silly and sweet. Ages 3-5. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Sam takes a trip with a pair of young jampires and visits their land of sponge cake, jam tarts, and jelly donuts. Without internal logic, this is less a story than it is a drawn-out play on the word vampire. O'Connell's bug-eyed creatures are cute but have little personality, and McIntyre forces her rhyme throughout. (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

When Sam finds that someone has "sucked out the jamminess" of his doughnut - and really, what could be worse? - he puts ketchup inside to trap the culprit. Luckily the perpetrators are two "jampires," batlike creatures more cute than scary. Even luckier, they fly him to a land of cake castles, tart flowers and an ice cream moon. With rounded shapes, soft colors and pops of jam-bright red, O'Connell's art works delightfully with McIntyre's supple rhymes to spread a silly, sweetly escapist mood. RUDE CAKES Written and illustrated by Rowboat Watkins. 40 pp. Chronicle. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 7) Even in the world of cakes, some children never say thank you or please. This witty, original debut makes an example of a young pink cake who shouts mean things at tiny crumbs and thinks that "bedtime is for doughnut holes." It takes a Giant Cyclops - turns out they're paragons of politesse - to steer the wayward cake onto the path of niceness. With adorably scruffy art and a clever, gag-filled story, Watkins brings a refreshing irreverence to the often deadly mind-your-manners genre. ICE CREAM SUMMER Written and illustrated by Peter Sis. 40 pp. Scholastic Press. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) The latest from the masterly Sis ("Starry Messenger," "The Wall") takes the form of a letter from a boy named Joe to his grandfather. The two have a trip planned at summer's end. In the meantime, Joe assures Grandpa he's keeping up his reading and math, even cartography and history. The illustrations tell a different story, in which delicious-looking ice cream plays a starring role. It's a winsome treat, with some nutritious facts (did you know the waffle cone was born in 1904?) sneaked in. ANNA BANANA AND THE CHOCOLATE EXPLOSION! By Dominique Roques. Illustrated by Alexis Dormal. 22 pp. First Second. $15.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) This second book about the wild-haired Anna Banana and her talkative stuffed-animal friends shows why the comics-style picture book trend is going strong: It's action-packed yet lovely to look at. The crew wants some chocolate cake, and Anna decides to teach them to bake. Complications ensue as Fuzzball can't get the hang of whisking (who can?) and Grizzler sneaks off to the bakery to fake his contribution. Teamwork prevails; the happy results leave a mess but look tasty. HUNGRY ROSCOE Written and illustrated by David J. Plant. 40 pp. Flying Eye. $17.95. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Roscoe is a raccoon - a hungry one who lives in a city park and is tired of "eating rotten junk" out of trash cans. In search of anything scrumptious, he heads to the zoo, where he's promptly booted out by a burly zookeeper. Penguin and tortoise disguises don't work. But the monkeys step in with a plan that brings hilarious mayhem to the zoo and a succulent bucket of fruit to Roscoe. In this debut picture book, Plant pours on the charm, with retro-looking sorbet-colored art and a perfectly paced story. ONLINE An expanded visual presentation of this week's column at nytimes.com/books.

K-Gr 2-Sam is bewildered when he discovers that his jelly doughnut has been sucked dry. Exasperated and determined to solve the mystery, he sets a trap. Using a hamper and a ketchup-filled doughnut, Sam waits. It doesn't take very long to capture the two, small culprits. The prisoners turn out to be "jampires," magical creatures who subsist on jam. The jampires apologize for their thievery, explaining that they are far from home and got hungry. After befriending Sam, they fly him to their homeland. The land of jampires is full of dessert: an enormous jar of jam, mountains of blueberry pie, sherbet snow, ice cream moon, and sponge cake castles. Finally home, the jampires are reunited with their mothers, who are grateful to Sam. They express their thanks via daily baskets of jam-filled doughnuts. The jampires no longer take Sam's jam, but readers should beware. The detailed cartoon illustrations are rendered with pencil and watercolor in a muted palette across full-bleed spreads. Much of the conversation appears in traditional cartoon word bubbles. VERDICT A good choice for the playful storytime.-Laura Hunter, Mount Laurel Library, NJ © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Some fiends have sucked the jam out of Sam's doughnut! Who are the perpetrators of this wicked deed? Jampires, of course. Just like their more sinister counterparts in the Twilight vein, Jampires swoop down in the night and steal the sweet stuff, leaving only a telltale dab of red on their tiny fangs. But young Sam is more than a match for them. Setting a trap in his bedroom with a ketchup-laced doughnut as bait, he manages to trap the jam-thirsty pair. Together they fly off to a magical land of desserts in the sky, "where Jampire moms perched under a sugar frosted dome" and a giant jar of jam soars above mountains of blueberry pie and, of course,doughnuts. The tale ends happily when the Jampire moms, delighted with the safe return of their two "jammy dodgers," reward Sam with a flown-in daily supply of luscious, jam-packed doughnuts. British author-illustrator team McIntyre and O'Connell have succeeded in creating a highly original narrative with text engagingly arranged. Skillful use is made of speech balloons in varying shapes, and key words"hullabaloo," "Slurp," "CLANG"are visually highlighted. And it's hard to beat these two little jam-smeared monsters for cuteness. A satisfying concept, friendly, Sendak-inspired colored-pencil-and-pastel illustrations, cartoonish attractiveness, and plain old wackiness make this sweet story a winner. (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.