how to make friends with a ghost

In general I am not a Halloween sort of person (didn’t grow up celebrating it, never really caught the fever), but I will make exceptions for spooky + funny and/or spooky + cute. Rebecca Green’s picture book How to Make Friends with a Ghost fits firmly in the latter category – it’s an adorably illustrated guide to ghostly friendship, tailor-made for this time of year.

What do you do when you meet a ghost? One: Provide the ghost with some of its favorite snacks, like mud tarts and earwax truffles. Two: Tell your ghost bedtime stories (ghosts love to be read to). Three: Make sure no one mistakes your ghost for whipped cream or a marshmallow when you aren’t looking! If you follow these few simple steps and the rest of the essential tips in How to Make Friends with a Ghost, you’ll see how a ghost friend will lovingly grow up and grow old with you.

A whimsical story about ghost care, Rebecca Green’s debut picture book is a perfect combination of offbeat humor, quirky and sweet illustrations, and the timeless theme of friendship.

Ghosts are attracted to people who are sweet, warm, and kind, according to Green’s guide to lifelong (and beyond!) friendship. While directed at the reader who might want to make a cute ghostly friend (the illustrations really do make it seem desirable!), How to Make Friends with a Ghost also contains many friendship insights even if you plan to keep your pals strictly among the living.

With themes of friendship and supernatural sweetness, and sprinkled with funny anecdotes and properly cited “tips” from fake guides, this delightful picture book is sure to be a hit with the 7-10 year old set, adults, and aspiring artists. While a friendship guide is not your typical ghost story, this one charms with notes on care and feeding, growing together, hiding places, hazards, and even a recipe (a gross one, but still)!

While the text will win over many readers, it is the whimsical, witchy illustration style that elevates this book to something special. Green’s pages are filled with colored pencil, gouache, and hand-lettered text, and the clear pencil strokes can be studied/copied with ease. The whole book brims with love and care. I especially loved the busy endpapers full of spooky ingredients (Halloween-friendly)(and the “friendly” bit really is true!).

So, if you’re in the mood for a cute, cuddly ghost story that is not scary at all, How to Make Friends with a Ghost is the book for you. It is made with love, and perfect for autumnal reading.

Recommended for: independent picture book readers, aspiring artists, and anyone who likes Halloween (minus the creepy stuff).