Review by Booklist Review
Gilbert the ghost is little, and being so teensy, he is spooked by big open places. So he tries to find a cozy cottage, the perfect size for a diminutive ghost. But every time he thinks he has found a spot, it turns out to be big and scary. Two tiny windows are actually the glowing eyes of a wolf! A wisp of chimney smoke is really a dragon! Soon, however, Gilbert finds the right house to haunt. Lindsay's multimedia illustrations in dark and inky nighttime colors are full of friendly details and small pops of bright orange, all of which nicely dial down the creepiness, and her cheery, big-eyed ghost is the perfect stand-in for little ones who sometimes feel frightened by big things.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In a story first published in the U.K., Gilbert, a nervous blob of a ghost, has trepidations about going haunting- because he's on the small side, he's looking for "a homey house to haunt, a cozy house, a little house!" While roaming an eerie forest, what Gilbert thinks are two glowing windows are actually "eyes that belong to a big, gobble-me... wolf!" Other frightening encounters follow, and eventually Gilbert makes his way to the attic of an ominous castle, where he meets a doll king and queen who rule their own tiny castle-just the right size for Gilbert to haunt. Baguley's suspense-driven page turns and Lindsay's pale blue forest create a just-scary-enough journey for Gilbert (and readers). The cozy shades of orange that suffuse his attic destination conjure a real sense of comfort and relief as Gilbert finds a new home that's "homier than homey and cozier than cozy." Ages 3-5. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Gilbert doesn't feel ready to "haunt somewhere huge." While searching the woods at night for a small "cozy house" to haunt, he predictably encounters other spooky creatures, including a wolf, a snake, and a dragon. Gilbert finally finds what he thinks is a house, but it turns out to be a castle, which is much too big and scary for the timid ghost-until he finds a miniature castle in the attic complete with a tiny king and queen who are coincidentally looking for a ghost to haunt their tiny turrets. While the illustrations, done in black, shades of blue, and orange, are just right for a ghost story aimed at a preschool audience, the story concept isn't unique and the castle-within-a castle solution is an odd ending to Gilbert's journey. The book will appeal to those who enjoy the not-so-spooky-little-ghost story line, but most can pass on this one without so much as a "shiver-me, shake-me."-Jenna Boles, Greene County Public Library, Beavercreek, OH (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Leave castle-haunting to the bigger ghosts; little ghost Gilbert longs to find "a homey house to haunt, a cozy house, a little house!" The scaredy-cat protagonist tentatively makes his way through the woods, drifting past a "gobble-me wolf," a "squeeze-me snake," and a "sizzle-me dragon," to what he thinks will be the perfect place--and to where a surprise awaits. Baguley's text features lots of kid-friendly pattern and repetition ("Shiver-me, shake-me"). Lindsay's mixed-media illustrations, which go from eerie nighttime blues and black to cheery, Halloween-y orange, play well with the tissue-paper translucence of our diminutive hero. elissa gershowitz(c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Gilbert watches the big ghosts float off to be-spook dark, creepy forests and towering castles, but he decides to find a homey, cozy house to haunt instead. The first lights he sees in the darkness are not windows but a "gobble-me wolf" that, luckily, doesn't see Gilbert but goes on its way. A path shining in the darkness turns out to be a "squeeze-me snake," and curling smoke from a chimney is actually a "sizzle-me dragon." Poor Gilbert ends up in a big castle despite himself, where he is so ineffectual that a dog chases him up the stairswhere he finds a tiny, (miraculously) populated castle on a table in the attic that's exactly the right size for him. While children will appreciate Gilbert's Goldilocks-like desire for the "just right," the story is a chain of anticlimactic, often illogical plot points related in wordplay that borders on twee. Lindsay's mixed-media illustrations employ what looks to be tissue paper for ghosts and wisps of fog against a forest of sharply outlined trees and branches. Gilbert is shaped like an upside-down teardrop that floats through the mildly threatening landscape. Even quite young children will wonder at his denseness in mistaking gleaming yellow eyes, an obviously scaled serpent and smoky breath that emanates from ground level for windows, a path and chimney smoke. A cotton-candy puff of a story: sweet but entirely insubstantial. (Picture book. 3-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
