Vampire Characteristics in Children's and Teens Books

What are the vampire's characteristics within Children's picture books and Teen novels? What are we telling them in the pages of their books about this most thirsty of creatures? Are we writing them a morality tale that will influence them to view it as a threat, or as a friend who just happens to be life-challenged? Or do we view these books as mere entertainment, ignoring all that we know about books denoting authority. (As a college instructor, we definitely place more value on a printed book than upon a website. Cognitively speaking, the more time the input is repeated, the more deeply the belief in its verity is ingrained.)

So, when the vampires we expose a child to are sweet, kind, and very like themselves, only un-alive, and we give them a steady diet of the Count on Sesame Street, who we all know is more fascinated by numbering items than he is in blood-sucking, and Count Chockula, who eats more chocolate than anything else, and the vampire costumed kid on Halloween, just what are we selling them?(Of course, the question could be asked, do we care?)

If we do care that we are giving our children a skewed view of a potentially dangerous creature, (yeah, I know they don't exist, but still)should we ask ourselves what it is we are promoting, and why some author, editor, publishing house, bookstore, and parent feel that this is the view we want to indoctrinate the young reader within?

And again, is there a difference between the vampire of the teen and that of the child? And what does that difference tell us about children, and about ourselves? How are the children represented, as victim, slayer, or friend?

My class and I constructed the following list of characteristics, and I have winnowed it down since I read fairly broadly in the field to make selections for my class.