A.L. Kennedy Wins Costa
Poetry Friday: Sweet Thang's Allison Whittenberg

Ghost Hunting, Wimpy Kids

Like many kids his age, my eight year old likes ghosts and spooky tales. His favorite read-alouds of the past couple of weeks have been Cornelia Funke's Ghosthunters and the Incredibly Revolting Ghost (#1 in a series) and, currently, Ghosthunters and the Gruesome invincible Lightning Ghost (#2). Junior even got up early so that he could hear "just one more chapter" before school this morning. Starring a nine-year-old boy, the books are more exciting than scary, and include a good bit of humor. And while no one will mistake the writing for E.B. White's,  an adult may find the books easier on her ears than, say, the various A to Z Mysteries or Magic Tree House titles. (Granted, the Funke series is written for somewhat older children.) My husband reports that the audio versions are fun to listen to, also.

On his own, Junior is reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which was a breakthrough book for a classmate. This buddy (a girl) had never read a chapter book all the way through, but read most of Jeff Kinney's comics-heavy bestseller in one sitting. She was way excited to hear about the sequel, Diary of a Wimpy Kid #2: Rodrick Rules. Although the official publication date isn't until February, that one is already in stores. I haven't read either yet, but the first certainly sounds funny from Junior has read to me.

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I just ordered D. of a W.K. for my library, and I'm crossing my fingers that my boy will read it to himself. I will also look for the Funke books--thanks for the recommendation!

You're welcome, Charlotte! I'd ordered one of the Ghosthunters from Scholastic a while back; you might find them in that catalogue.

I loved the Ghosthunters books. Thus far, I've reviewed the first three titles chez moi - here's a link to the "tag" line for Funke, which gets you all three (and, interestingly, none of her other, better-known books): http://kellyrfineman.livejournal.com/tag/funke

Oh, I like those reviews, Kelly! Thank you for the link. We'll have to get the Moldy Baroness next. We're sort of ghost and witch people more than wizard people, so these are right up our alley.

Your boy-o is finding his reading life. How wonderful!!

Yes, Camille, it's great to see!

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