Elaine Bickell

Poor little ghost has lost her Boo! She went out one night to scare someone and it was not there only a rush of cold air. She hears a Who and thinks that is her Boo, but it is only Owl. She then goes on and hears a Coo and it turns out to be Pidgeon, not her Boo. She goes along searching for her Boo and meets a rooster and a cow and finally the reader is asked to help her find her Boo. This is an endearing story about a little ghost looking for her Boo and she finds out some interesting things about others in the forest. I would recommend this for any collection. The illustrations of Little Ghost are adorable and it would make a great read aloud and the reader can talk about print awareness. The sounds of the different animals are bold and bigger than the other text. Great story similar to Five Little Pumpkins for Halloween.… (mais)

A little ghost loses her "boo!" in this rhyming picture-book from New Zealand, and goes looking for it throughout the forest. Encountering various woodland friends and their similar sounds - Owl's "whoo-whoo," Pigeon's "coo," Rooster's "cock-a-doodle-doo" - the ghost continues her hunt, eventually finding what she seeks, with the help of the reader...

The Little Ghost Who Lost Her Boo! is the debut picture-book from Elaine Bickell, an expatriate British author now living in New Zealand, and it won the 2018 Joy Cowley Award, given out by the Storylines Children's Literature Foundation of New Zealand to outstanding picture-book manuscripts. The award comes with a monetary prize and (more importantly) the chance to be published by Scholastic New Zealand. I can see why Bickell's work was chosen, as her text has a bouncy, rhyming appeal, and an interactive element at the end that will no doubt work to get the child audience involved in the storytelling. The illustrations from Raymond McGrath, and established New Zealand artist, are quite cute, and capture the spooky sweetness of the main character, and the beauty of her animal friends. Recommended to picture-book readers looking for ghostly fare on the gentler side.… (mais)