REVIEW: Ghosts and Other Spirits of the Dead

Ghosts and Other Spirits of the Dead
Author: Ruth Owen

Ghosts and Other Spirits of the Dead is part of the Not Near Normal: The Paranormal series for kids. The series has six books on spooky topics ranging from aliens to zombies. I love ghost stories -- even ones for kids -- so when I saw my local library had just added this to their digital site, I had to read it! I'm always looking for interesting books for my grand kids or to give as gifts to friends' kids, but I always read them myself first. Especially if they are spooky!

This book is very visually appealing. Each story is illustrated with full-color photos and artwork with varied page layouts. The stories are set in the US and UK with intersting locations like an aircraft carrier and even a haunted road. Some of the tales are well-known like the phantom hitchhiker, the Brown Lady and a demon cat.

The stories are age appropriate for elementary age students....spooky but not overly scary. Each book in this series has a glossary of spooky terms from the stories, a bibliography, a short suggested reading list and a weblink for kid who want more information. I could see this series having some fun classroom applications...from writing prompts to fun, supplementary reading at Halloween. A student who loves ghost stories but who is a reluctant reader might really benefit from this series. 

I'm definitely going to read more of these books and buy a couple titles for my grand kids! Very entertaining!