Ghosts and Other Spirits of the Dead

Not Near Normal: The Paranormal

by Ruth Owen

Could a spirit of the dead really come back to haunt the living? If tales of ghosts are just fictional stories, why do so many people report seeing these supernatural beings? What would it be like to be the restless spirit of someone who has died, and how can you tell if ghosts inhabit the house you live in? In Ghosts and Other Spirits of the Dead, children will read historical stories and modern-day accounts of ghostly encounters. Kids will get all the information they need to help them spot or sense the spirits of the dead and to protect themselves from being haunted by ghosts. Children will also investigate the truth behind ghost stories by first exploring the fears and superstitions of different cultures that might explain the origins of the stories, and then looking at the scientific facts that might explain the seemingly unexplainable. If you love a spine-chilling horror story but also want to investigate the truth behind these myths, this is the book for you!

Genres: Nonfiction

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Ruth Owen has been developing, editing, and writing children’s books for over 10 years. She particularly enjoys working on books about animals and the natural world. Ruth lives in Cornwall, England, just minutes from the ocean. She loves gardening and caring for her family of llamas.

There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. ( Ruth Owen, Romance Writer)

Reviews

[Julie]

Ghosts and Other Spirits of the Dead is part of the Not Near Normal: The Paranormal series for kids. The series has six books on spooky topics ranging from aliens to zombies. I love ghost stories -- even ones for kids -- so when I saw my local library had just added this to their digital site, I had to read it! I'm always looking for interesting books for my grand kids or to give as gifts to friends' kids, but I always read them myself first. Especially if they are spooky!

This book is very visually appealing. Each story is illustrated with full-color photos and artwork with varied page layouts. The stories are set in the US and UK with intersting locations like an aircraft carrier and even a haunted road. Some of the tales are well-known like the phantom hitchhiker, the Brown Lady and a demon cat.

The stories are age appropriate for elementary age students....spooky but not overly scary. Each book in this series has a glossary of spooky terms from the stories, a bibliography, a short suggested reading list and a weblink for kid who want more information. I could see this series having some fun classroom applications...from writing prompts to fun, supplementary reading at Halloween. A student who loves ghost stories but who is a reluctant reader might really benefit from this series.

I'm definitely going to read more of these books and buy a couple titles for my grand kids! Very entertaining!

[Jennifer]

A brief children's book about ghosts, poltergeists, and different types of hauntings. It has a lot of good pictures that would grab the attention of the kids, but I felt that it was too short. I think the author could of made it about 10-20 pages longer. The paranormal is becoming mainstream now and it is not unusual like it was when I was in my tween years. I think there is much more interest in ghosts and monsters so many more people would purchase the book. I enjoyed the brief stories and I liked how the author provided ghosts stories that occurred both on land and sea. This really gave variety to the book. I highly recommend this book for teachers that have interested students around the Halloween holiday. I think this book would be a fun addition to any extra reading time, etc. It is not scary and would be good for kiddos in the 8 to 10 age group. My only hang up is the length. It is just a bit too short for me and I honestly think children would stay interested in the stories if the author were to add a couple more.

[Jenni Frencham]

With a glossary, bibliography, and an index, this book aligns with Common Core standards for nonfiction. Also, the topic definitely appeals to my patrons. Even though this is a relatively short book with not much information, it does inspire patrons to check out other books!