Ghoulia

Ghoulia
Author: Barbara Cantini
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Reviewer: Kelly

Summary: Ghoulia lives with her Auntie Departed in their mansion called Crumbling Manor.  Ghoulia is a zombie and spends most of her time playing with her dog, Tragedy.  All Ghoulia wants, more than anything, is a real friend.  She wants to get past the manor walls but is consistently stopped by her Auntie Departed.  Her other problem is that she doesn’t look like all of the other “normal” kids.  She has pale white skin, dark purple circles under her eyes, and long black hair.  She begins to devise the perfect plan; that she will venture out into the nearby neighborhood on Halloween.  That way, all the kids will be wearing their costumes, and she can be herself, a zombie.  Will the other children realize what Ghoulia really is?  Will they understand that friendship comes in many forms?

Review: There are three words that I will use to describe this book.  Illustrations.  Illustrations.  Illustrations.  I read this story out loud with my 20 month old daughter and we loved it.  The book is complete with illustrations on each page.  It was such a thoughtful, festive and creative story.  A beginning chapter book for some, it is the perfect addition to our fiction collection.  I would recommend this to any young reader looking to get into the Halloween spirit.  I also think it is great for fans of, The Nightmare before Christmas, as the illustrations are of the same style.

Also included in this book, were fun Halloween activities, a list of items needed to dress up as Ghoulia for Halloween, and much more.  I plan on purchasing a copy of this book for our, at home library and reading it yearly together for Halloween.  Such a creative way to get in the spooky spirit and learn a valuable lesson about friendship.