REVIEW: Gus Loved His Happy Home

Gus Loved His Happy Home
Author: Jane Thayer

Gus the Ghost is a much beloved character in an 8-book series by Jane Thayer (a pen name for Catherine Woolley) written between 1967 and 1989. I read the first book in this series, Gus Was a Friendly Ghost, in 1971. I made my siblings read it to me over and over and over again. They got so tired of reading about Gus that they taught me to read so I could read the book (and my other favorites) to myself. :) So, technically, Jane Thayer and Gus are partially responsible for my love of books.  I had to laugh earlier this year when I discovered (much to my shock!) that there wasn't just one Gus book but 8 of them! I am now on the last book....Gus Loved His Happy Home. I'm happy and sad at the same time. Yay! Gus has 8 books!! But Wah! I've read all of them now.

There is only one of the books that I didn't enjoy as much as the others. Book #7, Gus Was a Real Dumb Ghost (or also published with a better title, Gus Goes to School) wasn't illustrated by Seymour Fleishman. The artwork just didn't fit in with the rest of the series. That, added to the rather negative original title, just turned me off. Gus didn't look like Gus! The story was great, but the artwork in the original books really made the stories pop off the page. The new illustrator just didn't have that magic. Not that her art wouldn't be great elsewhere.....you just can't totally change what a beloved character looks like in mid-stream....and then call him "really dumb'' on top of it. Ok....off my soapbox.....I was sooooo happy when I saw the cover of the 8th and final book and saw that it is illustrated by Seymour Fleishman. Gus is Gus again! It really does make me incredibly curious why one book in the series was illustrated by someone else. I would guess that readers reactions to that 7th book were just like mine.....yuck!

I loved this book! Gus Loved His Happy Home returns to the vibe of the original books in the series. Gus is at home in the attic of the historical museum. He lives with cranky Mr. Frizzle, Mouse the Mouse, and Cora the Cat. He's still wearing the colorful sheets he picked out in Gus Was a Gorgeous Ghost. He looks quite dapper for a spirit! Winter is coming, so Mr. Frizzle packs up and heads to Florida. He says he will be back in the spring and tells Gus to keep the museum dusted and in order. But, Gus has so much fun trying new things and playing while Mr. Frizzle is gone that he forgets to dust! Oh no! Can he clean up before Mr. Frizzle comes back?

This is such a cute story! The Gus series ends on a happy note. Perfect! Gus does so many fun things and has some interesting experiences before Mr. Frizzle comes back home. And the illustrations are definitely back to the style I love from the earlier books! I definitely want to read more stories by Jane Thayer and more books that feature Seymour Fleishman's artwork!

Jane Thayer (Catherine Woolley) wrote almost 90 children's books during her career.