Member Reviews

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This book was bizarre, and I believe there was much lost in translation of the story.

Was this review helpful?

This is a fun read sure to appeal to children. It will make you laugh but at the same time it teaches a lesson.
I received a complimentary copy from NorthSouth Books Inc via NetGalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Was this review helpful?

What a pretty story, despite the circumstances! There once was a little ghost who can't scare anyone, she was even funny that people tend to like her than to be scared of her. So she was sent to the scariest ghost to learn how to scare people. A wonderful story, in my opinion, with a great lesson behind, even though it should be told in the form of ghosts.

Was this review helpful?

This was a cute little book about a little girl who was trying to be ghost, but she had a lot of problems making noise. Her father said, well, I'm gonna send you away. Maybe someone can teach you how to be quiet. To teach you to be quiet. So she rides in this village, and she finds out. She really could do this job. When you realize you can do something as a child. It seems such a great accomplishment. But children are afraid to do something. But when they get to that level, you just push them and they will find a way. I think this really helped her because she realized she could walk around with her chains and not make noise and scare people. It is a cute little book. I think it really explains girls can do things and be positive.

Was this review helpful?

The Littlest Ghost made people laugh,and she did not care to scare people. The thing is, she was supposed to be learning how to haunt.
I thought this was a fun book and suits elementary children. My only issue I have, the ending came to a conclusion abruptly.
Thank you Franz Hohler, Werner Maurer, NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book, in return for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

This book has always been a favorite story of mine.
Its such a cute little story.
i love being able to share with my kids too

Was this review helpful?

Little ghost wants to be scary and mama and daddy goes or trying to teach them but due to him being adorable and little it just isn’t happening. They finally decide to send them to his Scottish uncle‘s castle so he can be taught to fear those living in the home he haunts and although little ghost is excited for the opportunity, can he really be taught to be scary? First off let me just say I am legally blind and not all children’s books or text to speech enabled this one is Annette has bright and bold colored pictures that for those who are just legally blind is easy to say not to mention the cute story that I read all the way through it was adorable and I loved it. I highly recommend this book it is a great book to teach young children not to be scared of ghosts are not to mention very entertaining. I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for my arc copy. Please forgive any mistakes as I dictate my review.

Was this review helpful?

A quick little read that for me, struck all the right notes.

This is about Little Ghost and her family and the people they haunt. Unfortunately, when it comes time for Little Ghost to begin haunting, she is no good at it [everyone finds her cute!]. Frustrated, her parents send her to the "scariest ghost around" to begin lessons on haunting and how to be scarier. What ensues is lessons on what is really scary and what is not and how loneliness and being alone can be scarier than our surroundings.

A lovely read with unique [and just fantastic] illustrations, I can see kids coming back to this again and again and many really great conversations coming from it.

Well done.

Thank you to NetGalley, Franz Hohler, Werner Maurer - Illustrator and NorthSouth Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
The little ghost is a happy and cute story. It has great depictions of family and friends.

Was this review helpful?

A charming story with lovely, textured illustrations and a vintage feel. Little Ghost struggles to be scary and is sent away to apprentice under the scariest ghost in Scotland. Instead of being helped, Little Ghost ends up being the helper and creates a new home for her family, learning it's ok to be herself.

Was this review helpful?

Adorable. A very ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ story. The illustrations aren’t pretty (it is a ghost story after all) but the story is very good.

Was this review helpful?

The Little Scottish Ghost is a cute story. It was a tad hard to read on my phone, as the yellow colored font blended into the white background a lot. I read on my phone, but maybe it will be a better combination in actual print. Illustrations were fantastic. Story was engaging for my five year old.

Thank you to Franz Hohler, NorthSouthBooks, and NetGalley for allowing myself and my son the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

"The Little Scottish Ghost" by Franz Hohler is about a little ghost who lives in Scotland with her parents and is trying to learn how to be scary and weird. I was excited to read this story but was disappointed. I think the idea was to show kids that things aren't as scary when you have a friend but in general feel like the story missed that mark a bit. It felt like there were two separate stories in the same book. I also am not sure how I feel about the parents telling Little Ghost to be weird all the time - it felt a little mean. I did like the illustrations throughout the book, they were in a different style than I was used to seeing. Overall, I thought the book was okay but not my favorite.

Was this review helpful?

I recently saw this gorgeous picture book on Netgalley. It had an older feel to the story from the illustrations to the feel of the story and it wasn't till now after finding it on Goodreads, that I discovered it was written in 1980 - that's seven years before I was born. This makes total sense as it did have a 70/80s feel to the book and the story. In The Little Scottish Ghost, we meet a ghost family who are haunting one of the many castles in Scotland. The Daddy and Mummy Ghost are scary and manage to scare the household, but they are starting to get a bit too old to haunt anymore as their energy isn't what it used to be. So they begin to train their daughter - the little Scottish ghost. The thing is that she isn't scary at all the household thinks she is adorably cute. After none of her parents' tricks seem to work, they send her away to be trained by someone who is said to be the scariest ghost in Scotland. Soon the Little ghost arrives only to learn that the ghost himself is a big scaredy cat and not brave at all - he scares himself. Over the rest of the story, the two pair up and became great friends and learn to help one another with their issues and become two brave and terrifying but sweet ghosts. The Little Scottish Ghost is one of those classic picture books that will be around for a long time and no matter the year it is read - it will be enjoyed. This book is also perfect for readers aged 5-10 years old and would also make a great play for schoolchildren.

Was this review helpful?

Not too bad an effort, this 1970s book brought back to our attention shows a girl ghost who just cannot successfully haunt her castle. When she is ordered to take lessons from the best, she finds herself able to take away people's scares and frights. It's one of those stories showing us what monsters are afraid of, who scares the scarers, that sort of thing, played for perhaps fewer laughs than other versions. It's never exactly scary, not particularly funny and really not as Scottish as it might have been, but it's still accessible and to some extent fun. Three and a half stars.

Was this review helpful?

Great little ghost tale! Fun for those little ones that are afraid of everything, and also for those that are super tough too! Love the ending. Highly recommend.

Was this review helpful?

While simple, I really enjoyed this story. It was such a fun read with my niece! I thought the story premise was creative and while the ending seems predictable to an adult audience, my niece didn't see it coming. I liked the gritty nature of the format and will be reading this with my young ones again.

Was this review helpful?

The storyline builds upon Little Ghost learning how to be scary instead of cute since she has not been successful in scaring anyone. She travels to see the scariest ghost ever in order to learn how to be “weirder and scarier”. Once Little Ghost and the Whistlefield ghost begin scaring together, they discover the truth behind the Whistlefield ghost’s howling and wailing. This discovery prompts a major turn of events.

This book reminds me of the ghost stories told to me as a child. The progression is perfectly paced and the theme is well plotted. The illustrations are primarily black and green ghost forms that are classic ghost depictions without being too scary for the target ages of 4-8 years old.

I received this book from the author/publisher free of charge, with no expectation of a positive review.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to NetGalley and NorthSouth Books for the opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy of this book for an honest review. (Publish Date: 18 Jul 2023)

“The Little Scottish Ghost” is a sweet and unusual tale about a young ghost who is trying to learn how scare people, but they see her as funny or cute instead.

I liked that the parents of Little Ghost were concerned about her maturing into proper weird and scary ghost, so they tried to teach her different ways to frighten people. However, the lessons always turned out poorly for Little Ghost.

Little Ghost’s parents then send her to Whistlefield to learn from the scariest ghost in Scotland. I don’t want to give away the ending, but Little Ghost certainly does learn a valuable lesson from the Whistlefield Ghost!

I thought the illustrations were appealing and fun for children, but I found the book to be a tad too long to hold a younger child’s attention. However, the story as a whole was engaging and had a good moral.

I would recommend this book to children who are afraid of scary stories and want a nice twist on ghosts who are presented as funny and friendly in this tale.

Was this review helpful?

This picture book is a reissue of an older book that was originally published in Germany. I wonder if some of the style and humor is simply lost in translation, because I found this to be a fairly lackluster story with repetitive text and not much humor. The little ghost is cute, and it's nice that she eventually accepted her gift of being funny instead of scary, but I didn't find the story or art particularly compelling. Also, the illustrations are often eerie and scary, so I would encourage parents to preview this before sharing it with their child to determine if it will fit with their kid's personality and sensitivity level or not.

Was this review helpful?