KidPages: Four Favorite Picture Books About Ghosts

If there’s one thing I hope is evident on this blog, it’s that I try to be very forthright with my book reviews. In fact, when it comes to picture books, it’s my policy not to even review books that I would not want to own myself. Because of that, this will never be a place to come if you’re looking for extensive roundups. My goal is not to pull together every single picture book I can find on a particular subject and present it to you, but rather, to curate a small group of books that I feel comfortable giving my hearty stamp of approval.
 
Today I want to share a few favorite ghost books with you. This doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of ghost picture books that are out there. There are, of course, many that we haven’t read, but of the ones we have read, these are some of our favorites.

1. Georgie by Robert Bright
The other books on this list are fairly new (published within the last ten years or so), but not this one. It’s been around since 1944, and now that it is no longer in print, it’s a true treasure. Luckily our library had a copy, but I’m thinking I’ll try to snag a used copy for us. It’s that fantastic.

Georgie lives in the attic of Mr. and Mrs. Whittaker’s house. He’s a very useful ghost to have around because every night he makes the loose board on the stairs give a creak and the parlor door give a little squeak, and then Mr. and Mrs. Whittaker know that it’s time for bed. But one day, Mr. Whittaker (being the good husband that he is) decides to tighten up the board on the stairs and oil the hinge of the door, and then they don’t creak or squeak anymore. Georgie is out of a job, and Mr. and Mrs. Whittaker no longer know when to go to bed and so suffer the consequences.

The illustrations are done in pen and ink which give them a detailed and well-defined look. The text doesn’t try to explain too much or get in the way of the illustrations, but the words that are there are quaint and sweet. (I love the part where Georgie is feeling frustrated, about not having anything to do, and it says, “That was a fine how-do-you-do.”)

This was our first Halloween season with Georgie, but I’ve noticed that there are more picture books in this series. I don’t know how they compare to the original (we’re waiting on one from the library), but if you’ve read any of them, I’d love to know how you liked them.

2. Leo: A Ghost Story by Mac Barnett, illus. Christian Robinson
With such a dynamic author/illustrator team, I had high (might I say, very high) hopes for this book, and they were not disappointed. Leo is a little ghost. He has lived by himself in a quiet house for many years. But one day, a family buys the house and moves in. Leo is a gracious host and brings in mint tea and honey toast for the family to enjoy while unpacking. Unfortunately, the family is anything but pleased to find a ghost residing in their house.

So Leo goes away. Eventually, he meets a little girl named Jane who immediately embraces Leo as her friend. Her parents are convinced he is just an imaginary friend, and Leo worries that’s how Jane thinks of him, too. Then one night, everything changes, and Leo and Jane’s friendship switches instantly from imaginary to real.

This is one of those rare books where the charm of the text matches the charm of the illustrations perfectly. The dialogue is candid and humorous. (One of my favorite exchanges happens right after Leo meets Jane. She wants to play Knights of the Round Table with him, and he asks, “Who is the king?” Jane replies, “I am! That’s why I’m wearing this crown on my head.” But . . . Jane isn’t actually wearing a crown on her head.) The illustrations use a limited color palette (blues and gray and black), and Leo is just an outline who takes on the color of whatever is around him.

Both text and illustrations have a timeless, classic quality to them. In fact, it reminds me a great deal of the first book I mentioned, Georgie, and also another one from my childhood, Gus Was a Friendly Ghost (a book I tried desperately to find this season and couldn’t, or I might have featured it today, too.) I have a feeling this book, although brand new this year, will be around for a long time.

3. Boo Cow by Patricia Baehr, illus. Margot Apple
Who doesn't love a good mystery? And what if it's combined with a ghost story? And what if the ghost is a cow? That just takes the cake, doesn't it?

When Mr. and Mrs. Noodleman park the moving truck in front of the old, dilapidated farm, they know they're in for a lot of work. But they get at it immediately and soon have a busy (if not yet, thriving) chicken farm (named Chicken Noodle Farm, which I adore). They are excited to start bringing in dozens of eggs every day and making some money, but day after day, they don't find any. Something seems a little suspicious, especially when one night they hear a thump and a creaaak and a clink-clunk and finally a long, low, supernatural Mooooooo!

They are convinced that this Boo Cow is the reason behind their lack of eggs. What kind of chickens would want to lay eggs with a ghost haunting their coop? Mr. and Mrs. Noodleman try all sorts of things to get rid of their unwanted visitor, but finally, as you probably have suspected by now, they get to the bottom of the missing eggs . . . and the culprit is not Boo Cow.

If the illustrations look familiar in this book, you probably recognize them from the Sheep in a Jeep series. They're the reason I was drawn to this book in the first place, but then the story won me over as well. It's not the same author as Sheep in a Jeep, so don't expect the same kind of limited, rhyming text. But if your kids can handle longer prose (probably ages 4 and up), I think you'll find this one to be a winner.

4. No Such Thing by Ella Bailey
I only just heard about this book myself a couple of weeks ago, but then I rushed to get my hands on a copy. I could just tell it was going to be exactly the kind of book I like. And I was right.

Strange things are happening at Georgia's house. There are mysterious drawings on the wall; a vase crashes to the floor; Georgia can't find any socks to wear. Some people might blame all of these unexplainable occurrences on ghosts . . . but not Georgia. She's too clever for that!

If I could only use one word to describe this book, it would be "subtle." The text rhymes, but I didn't even realize it until I was through the first three or four pages . . . and not because they were bad rhymes but because they just slipped off the tongue so effortlessly. The illustrations have a retro quality that is easy on the eyes. And then there are the ghosts, who you probably won't notice at first because they're so well-hidden (but despite what Georgia says, they're there).

I gave this book to Max to read on his own because I was curious to see when he would realize that there really were ghosts behind all of the mischief. After reading several pages, he stopped and made the observation: "He's the one who's been doing it all" while pointing to a little ghost hiding in a shirt that's hanging on the line to dry. I think that may have been the first one he spotted, but after that, he could suddenly see them everywhere. (Both Aaron and Max have been poring over the book this morning, trying to spot every single one.)

I loved this book on first sight, and I feel fairly confident in saying you won't need to read it more than once before you love it too.

What are YOUR favorite picture books about ghosts?

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver

The following information will probably only solidify the fact that I am a book nerd: One morning, not too long ago, I woke up and realized I did not have an audio book to listen to that day. This seriously was not acceptable, and I felt a little bit panicked over it. After all, how could I possibly be expected to clean the house, or do any other monotonous tasks, if I didn't have something to make it feel worthwhile?! I make it a point to never have a break between books. I always have something waiting in the wings. This might seem a little obsessive (okay, yes, it's obsessive), but think of all the good reading you're missing out on if you have a week or two, or even a few days, between books! As I said before, definitely not acceptable.

I hadn't known I was going to be without a book. The night before, I had finished one and within the hour, started another. But it wasn't what I was expecting, and I was only twenty minutes into it when I decided I didn't want to finish it. So it was that I was without anything to listen to, and I decided it was finally time to try downloading a book from the library's website (I'm afraid I will always and forever be at least five years behind the rest of the world).

Believe it or not, there is a reason for this totally engrossing back story. I selected Liesl & Po not because it was on my to-read list or because I had read amazing reviews on it, but because, as I was frantically scrolling through the options (I had to make a selection before Mike took the computer to work with him), it was the first title that I vaguely recognized and that wasn't also already checked out.

It was chosen out of desperation but enjoyed just as much as if I had been wanting to read it for months.

The night the story begins, Liesl has recently lost her father. Her grief is almost unbearable as she didn't even get to say good-bye to him. Liesl's stepmother (a truly wicked one) has kept Liesl locked up in her attic room for months under the guise that she didn't want Liesl to have to see her father so sick before his death. That very night, as Liesl is crying anguished tears, a ghost appears in the room next to her. Although a bit alarmed, Liesl is surprisingly not very afraid. She is terribly lonely and finds a welcome companion in this ghost, named Po, and its pet, named Bundle. Po is able to make contact with Liesl's father on the other side, who says he wants to go home to the willow tree. Liesl knows she must help her father find peace. Meanwhile a young alchemist's apprentice named Will accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with a container holding Liesl's father's ashes. Along with a host of other seemingly unrelated characters, the two stories converge and depart and converge again until all is made perfectly right.

So as soon as I started this, I realized that it would have been the perfect story to read in October, what with one of its main characters being a ghost and all. You know how I feel about reading books at the right time of year. But I tried not to let the fact that I was reading it a month late bother me. And you know what? It was just fine. I may be completely obsessive sometimes, but I survived. Still though, it would have been perfect for October, so just tuck that away in your brains for future use.

Out of all the characters, I think I was most impressed with the characterization of Po. When asked if it was a boy or a girl, Po said it didn't know; it had been a ghost too long to remember. The same for the pet, Bundle: it was unknown whether it was a dog or a cat. But little intimations are given throughout the story that lead the reader to suspect that Po probably had been a little boy: Po's feelings of jealousy toward Will, always wanting to one-up Will, protecting and watching over Liesl, etc. (At the end, the reader does find out for certain.) I also loved how Lauren Oliver made Po both ghost-like and human. Ghost qualities: sliding through doors and walls, usually insensitive to and confused by human emotions, etc. Human qualities: wants to help Liesl, feels a certain longing for some vague past, etc. Also, I loved the way she gave personality to Po. Even though he was just a shadow, sometimes barely perceptible, he would flicker or fade or brighten depending on his mood. Really, really well done.

I already mentioned this in the summary, but I loved the way every character mattered to the story. Even seemingly minor characters unexpectedly popped up later, and everyone ended up being connected somehow in an unusual and twisting fabric. It actually reminded me a little of Dickens, except that it was only a tenth as long which didn't give me much of a chance to thoroughly forget the minor characters before they miraculously reappeared.

At the end of the book, there was a very poignant note from the author. She wrote this story following the sudden death of her best friend. I loved what she said: "Liesl & Po is the embodiment of what writing has always been for me at its purest and most basic--not a paycheck, certainly; not an idea, even; and not an escape. Actually, it is the opposite of an escape; it is a way back in, a way to enter and make sense of a world that occasionally seems harsh and terrible and mystifying." I liked the book before I read this, but reading the story behind it brought all of the characters into much clearer focus for me. I think this shows the absolute importance for each of us to have some sort of creative outlet to sort out our feelings and emotions. It doesn't have to be writing, but we all need some way to express the things that matter most to us.

This audio book was narrated by the well-known Jim Dale (narrator of Harry Potter and more). He is a wonderful narrator, and I've listened to him narrate several other books besides this one. But it wasn't until this reading that I realized I don't love him, and here is why: his voice is too memorable. I would know his voice anywhere, and for me, that's a problem. This book had absolutely nothing to do with pirates, and yet, I could not get pirates out of my head because awhile ago, I listened to Jim Dale narrate Peter and the Starcatchers. It's just a little bit annoying to have such a deep association between the sound of his voice and the books he has narrated. That's just my opinion.

Really a great read, but I'm left to wonder: Is the moral of the story that I should always have two books ready and waiting? Or none? Because when chance and coincidence lands me a book like this one, I'm thinking it might be better not to plan.