How to Train Your Zombie by Josh Winning, illustrated by Dave Smith – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: wartime, family, bereavement, understanding, danger, acceptance.
Children’s book title: How to Train Your Zombie.
Children’s author: Josh Winning.
Children’s illustrator: Dave Smith.
Genre: Children’s fiction.
Published by: Scholastic.
ISBN: 9780702349805.
Recommended for children aged: 9-12.
First published: September 2026.
This children’s book is ideal for: approaching the death of someone close in a more unique way while also understanding how that feels when it happens to a child. Discussions about those feelings and how to deal with them or help someone who is going through a tough time themselves.
Trigger warning: unexpected death of a friend.
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Our review:
Ten-year-old Preston Parker has had a terrible time lately, but his brothers, Zac and Hal, have finally convinced him to restart filming his monster videos and put them on YouTube again. It isn’t as good as it used to be, however, although he never got attacked by an actual zombie first time round! Preston’s best friend, Tommy, died six months earlier, but, amazingly, the zombie is Tommy!
Preston has no intention of ever being separated from Tommy again, but, unfortunately, he isn’t going to just slip back into everyday life in Gallowstop, especially when worms fall from his nose and the only thing he says is ‘brains’! Determined to train him to be the old Tommy again, Preston talks his brothers into taking him home, and that’s when the trouble really starts!
Keeping Tommy a secret from his parents is tricky enough, but then there’s the school bully to deal with, a fancy-dress birthday party, and an actual monster hunter who is determined to return Tommy to his not-so-final resting place! Dodging all the problems isn’t easy, but between them, Preston, Zac, and Hal are sure they will succeed- but then Tommy disappears!
Our verdict:
In many ways, this is a book about adjusting to and dealing with loss, but in a totally unique way! The author describes Preston’s feelings and his family’s worries well throughout the book, and the emotions are realistic and change gradually as the story moves along. However, this is a very different way of describing the challenges Preston is facing and will face in the future!
Preston and Tommy loved monsters, graphic novels, and making YouTube videos, but when tragedy strikes and Preston is left alone, with just his family for company, he struggles to come to terms with Tommy’s death and what it means for his future. But, unbeknownst to him, his brothers have been keeping a close eye on him and have made plans!
These plans don’t work out quite as they were meant to when they manage to raise the dead! Now that Tommy is once again among them, Preston is delighted, but he knows they can’t keep him a secret forever and determines to train him to be his old self. Nothing is easy. Tommy can only say one word, ‘brains’, and although Hal says he can understand what Tommy is saying, Preston isn’t convinced. Nor can he get Zac off his phone, so even with his best friend back again, Preston still feels alone.
The author places clues throughout the story about how his brothers are helping, especially Zac, which shows the reader that Preston has every chance of moving on with his life when he’s ready.
Teaching points and book club discussion ideas:
- Preston has made videos in a graveyard quite often, and it doesn’t seem to worry him or Hal, but Zac isn’t at all convinced! Would you do this, or would you prefer another location?
- Preston has been devastated by the death of his best friend and has spent a lot of time alone. His brothers have been keeping a careful eye on Preston. What different things were they doing to help before and after Tommy reappeared, even if he didn’t realise?
- There are a lot of books written about grief and the different ways of trying to cope with everything, but not many are quite like this! Did you enjoy the originality of the story and how Preston was coping?
- Did you empathise with Preston? How do you think spending time with Tommy, even though he was a zombie, helped him understand himself and his brothers better?
- Preston, Zac, and Hal are about to set out on some new adventures. Would you go too?
- What other monsters do you think they will find?
- Design a newspaper advert for Vincent Valiant’s new business. What are the most important things to include?
Many thanks to Scholastic for the review copy.
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