book cover

Grandpa Bert and the Ghost Snatchers

by Malorie Blackman, illustrated by Melanie Demmer

Interest age: 6 to 9
Reading age: 7+

Published by Little Gems, 2018

  • Adventure
  • Chapter books
  • Funny
  • Ghost story
  • Dyslexia

About this book

Grandma Gertie is the most unusual person that Anna and Kasper have ever met. She wears huge, square spectacles, carries a real parrot on her head and says the most peculiar things. When she visits them from Barbados, she is accompanied by an extraordinary travelling companion: squeezed into her handbag is the ghost of Grandpa Bert!

Grandma Gertie is convinced that she is being followed, and when her handbag is stolen, her fears are confirmed. Luckily, Grandpa Bert has moved into Anna’s cap, but when the robbers make another appearance, it becomes clear that they are no ordinary thieves. They are ghost snatchers, determined to capture Grandpa Bert.

Fast-paced and funny, featuring a BAME (Black, Asian, and minority ethnic) family, this fantastic addition to the superb Little Gems series is designed to appeal to reluctant and dyslexic readers. Special editing minimises barriers to comprehension, a clear font helps avoid confusing letter shapes, and thick paper ensures words and pictures don’t show through the pages and confuse the eye.

The lively, colourful illustrations are a perfect accompaniment to the text, which is written by former Children’s Laureate, Malorie Blackman. Look out for the activities and jokes, which are hidden under the cover flaps.

About the author

Malorie Blackman is acknowledged as one of today's most imaginative and convincing writers for young readers.

The novels in her Noughts & Crosses sequence have won several awards, including the Children's Book Award, and she has won many other awards for her books for the Random House list. Both Hacker and Thief! won the Young Telegraph/Gimme 5 Award – Malorie is the only author to have won this award twice – while Hacker also won the WH Smith Mind-Boggling Books Award in 1994.

Her work has appeared on screen, with Pig-Heart Boy, which was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, being adapted into a BAFTA-award-winning TV serial. Malorie has also written a number of titles for younger readers. In 2005, Malorie was honoured with the Eleanor Farjeon Award in recognition of her distinguished contribution to the world of children's books.

In 2008, she was then honoured with an OBE for her services to Children's Literature. She was the Waterstones Children's Laureate for 2013-2015.

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