Did you have an imaginary friend when you were little? I did for a while - he was a mischievous elf (although I can't remember his name!)
In this engaging picturebook, Ava's imaginary friend is the high-spirited Ghostie, who makes an appearance when Ava is bored. Together Ava and Ghostie play hide-and-seek, screech and howl, roll in the mud, and cause general chaos! Things are much more fun when Ghostie is around (strangely, Mum and Dad don't seem to think so though!)
Ghostie is a beautiful celebration of imagination, creative play, and family. Parents/carers will relate to the often precarious juggle of working from home while caring for young children. The scene showing mum and dad working from laptops at the kitchen table will resonate with parents everywhere - particularly following the days of homeschooling and working from home during COVID lockdowns across the world.
Child readers will delight in the messy noisy play as Ava and Ghostie create havoc (seems that imaginary friends turn out to be quite useful for shifting the blame to, when there's a big mess!)
Young readers will love the heartwarming way the story ends - the final scene depicting the warmth and tenderness of family love.
I love the playful narrative, which is full of action, alliteration and delightfully descriptive words like boo and howl and screech - ensuring this story would make a great read aloud choice.
The illustrations burst with colour and movement and mischief - beautifully portraying the joy and mayhem of Ava's friendship with Ghostie. The colour palette used is bright and eye-catching, and the facial expressions spot-on.
Do take a moment to admire the gorgeous knitted ghost that the author kindly sent to us with the book - is he not the most adorable ghost you've ever seen?
If your kid love friendly ghosts and playful narratives then they will adore this story.
We thank Stephanie for our gifted copy of this wonderful book.
Published by Windy Hollow