
How to Make Friends with a Ghost
by Rebecca Green
Interest age: 5 to 8
Reading age: 6+
Published by Andersen Press, 2018
About this book
It might feel scary to imagine being friends with a ghost – but what if ghosts were quite sweet, really? Luckily, this handy guide to ghost care informs us that ghosts love eating floating spaghetti and mudballs, pickled bogeys and mud tarts. They also adore dance parties and jokes, and depend on enjoying a cosy moss-and-spiderweb bed to get a really good nightmare every night. There’s also a useful reminder not to confuse ghosts with towels on doorknobs, or costumed children.
What we learn also from this how-to guide is that ghosts, once you find one, can stay with you for life and love you in later years – reading to you and telling you the jokes you might have forgotten, which is rather reassuring.
Rebecca Green’s debut picture book is a delightful, sweet friendship book with a beautiful, retro-inspired illustration and stylish palette with plenty of funny little details to find. It’s on the more sophisticated end of the picture book range, so one for younger primary children rather than preschoolers.
Green’s little ghost is adorable, and this will be a funny and original favourite all year round – not just in the more ghostly months of the year.
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Lists of recommended reads
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Halloween books for primary school children
Spooky stories can be utterly thrilling, and provide a safe space to be scared in an entertaining way