Ghostie
Age 3+
Picture Books
Creators
Stephanie Owen Reeder is the award-winning author of over 15 books for children, ranging from picture books to historical novels. As well as writing books, Stephanie also illustrates, edits, reviews, collects and devours them. Not surprisingly, her house in Canberra, Australia’s capital city, is simply bursting with books.
Mel Armstrong is an illustrator from the coolest capital in the world Wellington, New Zealand where she lives with her partner Katie, two young children, a crazy dog and 2 lazy cats. Her first book, A home for Luna, won the Rubery Book Award Children’s category and she has since gone on to illustrate more than 10 books. Her work, which is a mix of traditional and digital media using textures and pattern, is largely influenced by the beauty of nature and the funny stories told by her children.
Reviews
Stephanie Owen Reeder’s text is pure fun. Punchy and full of movement, it gallops along with the onomatopoeia – winding, figuratively and literally, its way around Ava and her cheeky friend. Her short sentences and word choices show a deep understanding of the way children think and speak, and there’s plenty of narrative twists to keep kids engaged and anticipating the next round of action. Based on the real-life shenanigans of Stephanie’s granddaughter, Ava, and her imaginary friend, this delightful book is something many children will relate to … and giggle over. Fabulous for kids who have an imaginary friend.
Kids Book Review
The text is quite brief with fun interplay between the words and illustrations. It’s great for reading aloud thanks to plenty of action verbs and noises (like boos and creaks) that encourage children to join in. The graphic illustrations are beautifully bright and textured, with fun little details to be found on each page. The characters are really cute and expressive, especially when they are up to cheeky, messy mischief!
Reading Time
