HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH A GHOST

Green’s picture-book debut is a guidebook that will be useful for anyone lucky enough to meet a ghost.

Indeed, the author stresses that you can look forever and not find a ghost, but if you are “sweet, warm, and kind…a ghost may find you.” The first section introduces a few “Ghost Basics” and do’s and don’ts. The second is devoted to “Ghost Care,” and it’s sure to garner the most Ewww’s from readers, especially when they read some of the things ghosts like to eat. “Growing Together,” the final section, addresses some of the issues you and your ghost will face as you grow up: moving to a new house, working, having a family, and growing old. The final illustration is poignant, as the girl pictured throughout is now a ghost herself, holding hands with her friend as they float over a new gravestone: “you’ll be friends even after the end.” The gouache, colored pencil, and digital illustrations have a sophisticated, rather adult aesthetic. The girl is more woman than child, and she is sometimes awkwardly portrayed, especially her ears and her expressions. Both she and the ghost are paper-white with pink cheeks, and the palette is limited to black, white, gray, brown, a rusty orange, and a pinkish red.

A solid guidebook to shelve with similar tomes on caring for monsters, trolls, fairies, dragons, and the like.