Ghost Cat

Ghost Cat

 

Eve Bunting

Illustrated by Kevin M. Barry

Sleeping Bear Press, 2017

From the dust jacket, “For many years Miss Maggie McCullen has been the keeper for the Port Carrick lighthouse. The people in Port Carrick are proud of her. “She keeps that big light going,” they say. “Never misses a night. You can’t count the lives Miss Maggie and her light saved.” And while the people are grateful to Miss Maggie, they also worry about her and her lonely life at the lighthouse.

“But they don’t know that she has her cat, Sailor Boy, for company. Because Sailor Boy is no ordinary cat. He’s a ghost cat. He can make himself visible or invisible, especially when visitors come to call and he wants to be mischievous.  But when a fierce storm comes and Miss Maggie needs special assistance, Sailor Boy proves just how extraordinary he is.”

This is the second book I’ve read recently about a ghostly pet! (The other one is Goldfish Ghost!) In this case the cat, Sailor Boy can make himself be seen or unseen. The story is pretty good – the author spends half the book giving the reader background info and then the big event happens. Sailor Boy does prove himself to be very helpful and saves the day. However, the story ended abruptly – when I turned the (what turned out to be) the last page, I was really surprised – I felt it needed at least one more page to wind-up the tale. I read the book several times just to make sure and each time it was the same thing – one page short of a sure winner.

Rating 3 out of 5 paws – a good story with delightful illustrations!!

Reviewer:

Simon

Goldfish Ghost

Goldfish Ghost

Lemony Snicket
Illustrations by Lisa Brown
A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, 2017

From the dust jacket, “Goldfish Ghost was born on the surface of the water in a boy’s room. Feeling lonely, he sets out to find some company.

“As he floats over the neighborhood, past the fishing pier, and into a cheerful seaside town, he discovers that not many people pay attention to ghosts.

“Off he floats, searching for the perfect home and the perfect friend…

“And then he hears a voice….”

This is Lemony Snicket book is a good one – a bit weird (whoever heard of a goldfish ghost?) (and who would think of one?) but a wonderful, touching little tale of a lonely goldfish. He floats around looking for companionship and finding no one who even notices he’s around he floats back to his own goldfish bowl only to find a live goldfish living there. Now, he not only has no friend, he has no home either. So off he floats to wherever the wind takes him. Will he find a companion? Someone who can see him and be with him? Yes, he does but I won’t tell you any more – no spoilers here!

I liked this story a lot and the illustrations are wonderful. I also decided that the artist must be a cat lover because she hides a little kitty in her pictures wherever she can – kind of what mom does in her collages.

Rating 4 out of 5 paws – Even if you don’t believe in ghosts I hope you will like this story because it reminds us that somewhere out in the world there is a companionable soul for everyone – we just need to find each other.

Reviewer:

Simon

Orange, Black, Pumpkin Patch, Part 2

When we last left the boys, they were starting out at night to find a pumpkin to carve for Halloween. Let’s find out what happens next!

Oh! The poor boys!! They’ve gone through so much already – all of this to get a pumpkin! What will happen next?? Come back tomorrow for Part 3!!

The Teeny Tiny Ghost and the Monster

The Teeny Tiny Ghost and the Monster

 

Kay Winters

Illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

HarperCollinsPublishers, 2004

 

From the book jacket: “All the ghosts in the teeny tiny class are excited to make their own monsters: scary monsters, hairy monsters, boy- and girl-eating monsters! All the ghosts, that is, except one. The Teeny Tiny Ghost isn’t excited at all. The Teeny Tiny Ghost is scared. He doesn’t like monsters: not scary monsters, not hairy monsters, not even boy- and girl-eating monsters. What will he do? Find out in this sweet and spooky story from Jay Winters and Lynn Munsinger. You don’t have to be a ghost to fall in love with the Teeny Tiny Ghost as he struggles with real-life problems like bullies and overwhelming school assignments. And you’ll cheer for him as he comes out on top!”

 

This picture book was not a favorite. The best thing about the book are the two black kittens that go with the Teeny Tiny Ghost everywhere, and are also smart enough to think of a solution to the ghost’s problem. From the cover it looks like a monster is coming after the little ghost, but inside we find it’s a school contest to make the best/scariest monster. There are the typical bullies (as there are in all books of this sort) who make fun of the him, but it is the Teeny Tiny Ghost who comes out on top. The illustrations of the kittens are adorable but the ghosts are not, and maybe it was meant to be that way. To my eyes the ghosts all looked like old people floating around half-dressed. But the story is well done and it serves its purpose as a confidence builder when you’re different from everybody else.

 

Rating 

 

Reviewer: Simon

 

Chihuahua of the Baskervilles

Chihuahua of the Baskervilles

Esri Allbritten

A Thomas Dunn book for Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 2011

Late one night Charlotte Baskerville hears a certain bark outside her house; she runs to the window and see’s what she thinks is a ghostly apparition floating across the lawn. She runs outside to see a glowing, ghost-like Chihuahua run toward an old stone house and disappear. The next day she contacts a friend whose husband runs a magazine for paranormal believers and asks for help in verifying her sighting. What starts out as an investigation into a dead dog’s reappearance leads to several attempts on Charlotte’s life and ultimately  ends up in a real death – accident or murder?

Main Characters:

Team from Tripping Magazine:

*Angus MacGregor, writer for Tripping, a magazine that specializes in travelogues to vacation spots with paranormal activity; he leads the team in search of the ghost dog, Petey.

*Suki Oota, photographer, stylishly beautiful and sarcastic; she can take a photo on the brightest day and make it look creepy.

*Michael Abernathy, graphics designer & writer; super cynical about the whole paranormal thing. He thinks the ghost dog is just a bunch of who-ha.

*Charlotte Baskerville, owner of Petey’s Closet, a company named after her dearly departed Chihuahua, Petey, that sells stylish dog clothes.  
While the company has done really well and is making tons of money, Charlotte has still managed to anger a few people . . . (see below).

Secondary Characters:

*Thomas Baskerville, husband of Charlotte, who is pretty teed-off about his wife’s company doing so well. He’s a real horse’s a** (no offense meant to horses) and thinks her company is “pathetic. Animals aren’t meant to wear clothes.” (pg 2) You’d think he’d be happy about it since its bringing in the money, but he’s not. Like I said, a real horse’s a**.

*Ellen Froehlich, designer for Petey’s Closet, and also a little peeved with Charlotte. She feels the company has been a success because of her designs and as an employee, everything she designs belongs to Charlotte. She feels like she deserves a bigger piece of the pie.

*Cheri Baskerville, Charlotte’s granddaughter and a not-so-recovering alcoholic at the age of 20, is mad because she has to live with her grandmother (both parents are dead) on the condition that she is not allowed to drink, argues with her step-grandfather (Thomas) and in general is not a happy person; although should Charlotte die, she would stand to inherit a lot of money.

*Ivan Blotski, trainer of the dogs who appear in the catalog and former Russian circus performer, wants Charlotte to sponsor a television show with him as the star.

*Bob Hume, creepy next door neighbor; he’s overly friendly, tries pushing his all-natural dog food business (named Petey’s Pride) on the Baskervilles, very nosy, and enables Cheri with her hidden drinking.

This nice little cozy mystery makes a pretty good attempt at being light-hearted and funny. The quotes on the back of the book from other authors who reviewed the book  use words like “laughing”, “snappy”, “quirky”, and “fun.” I won’t be using any of those words. Yes, the book was mildly amusing but I think the author tried too hard. The characters were too clichéd and too  boring. There is certainly no emotional investment on the part of the reader even if it was an intriguing mystery and had me guessing all the way to the end.  And, if you are familiar with our reviews, then you know the Board much prefers books that require something of us. If I am going to invest precious time in reading a book then I want it to touch my heart and mind. So for that reason, I rate it . . .

3 out of 5 paws

Reviewer: BobbieSue