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Gus the Ghost #7
Gus Was a Gorgeous Ghost
Gus determines that ghosts needn't always wear white.
Hardcover
Published January 1, 1978
About the author
Jane Thayer
78 books15 followersJane Thayer (pen name of: Catherine Woolley) was an American writer. She is known best for the book The Puppy Who Wanted A Boy, which became the basis of a 1980s Saturday Morning cartoon series, The Puppy's Further Adventures.
Obituary from: Boston Globe, July 27, 2005
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articl...
With the 87 children's books she wrote, Catherine Woolley delighted generations of young readers around the world with stories of children, animals, a friendly ghost, and mysterious happenings.
She was so prolific that her publisher told her to use a nom de plume for some books. She chose Jane Thayer, her grandmother's name, for the many picture books she wrote.
For her older readers, she used her real name on books such as the ''Ginnie and Geneva" series about the adventures of two young girls. Many of the books were translated into foreign languages.
Ms. Woolley died Saturday in her Truro home. She was 100 and had been in failing health in recent years.
Until then, said her niece Betsy Drinkwater of Enfield, N.H., Ms. Woolley was a lover of books and a ''lifelong Democrat."
''After her 100th birthday last summer, her goal was to live long enough to vote in the 2004 election, and she did," Drinkwater said.
''She was a character," Drinkwater said. ''She never married, was very independent, and traveled all over the world. ''
A petite woman with blue eyes and curly hair, Ms. Woolley was also feisty, said a Truro neighbor, Peggy Longgood. ''She was clear in what she believed in and thought, and she would not back down on anything. She was indomitable."
Ms. Woolley continued to write into her 80s and 90s, Drinkwater said. Her last published work was 1989's ''Writing for Children," in which she advised adults how to write children's books. It wasn't easy, she warned.
Though Ms. Woolley never had children, she seemed to have a kinship with them, friends said. In her books, she often drew on her own experiences and world travels. She always urged students at the writers' workshops she taught on Cape Cod to write what they knew. In ''Writing for Children," she writes: ''There is a delight in working with words, because if you are a writer you love the magic of words and you love using words to bring children into the world you are creating."
Ms. Woolley was born in Chicago to Edward Mott and Anna Lazelle (Thayer) Woolley. She grew up in Passaic, N.J. Her father was a newspaperman in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Ms. Woolley attended both Barnard College in New York and the University of California at Los Angeles, earning her bachelor's degree from UCLA in 1927.
Ms. Woolley's niece said that after college, she worked in public relations in New York and eventually moved back with her parents in Passaic in the 1930s during the Great Depression. She lived in Passaic until she was 60.
Drinkwater believes that Ms. Woolley wrote for magazines before her first book, ''I Like Trains," was published in 1944.
In the early 1960s, she moved into a house she had bought in Truro, pounding out books on an old Remington typewriter. She never used a computer.
Among her many books were ''The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy," about a dog who was looking for a master and found more than one at an orphanage, and a series about ''Gus the Ghost," a friendly apparition.
On Cape Cod, Ms. Woolley was a fixture at writing and book events. She helped start a book club, worked with the Friends of the Truro Library, taught at writing workshops, and held story hours at the library.
When the library opened its new building in 1996, it named its children's room after her.
''Catherine's writing and literary life was paramount to her," said Anne Brock of North Truro, a former library trustee.
One of Ms. Woolley's students was Yoko Kawashima Watkins of Brewster, with whom she worked for a year on a manuscript for Watkins's suc
Obituary from: Boston Globe, July 27, 2005
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articl...
With the 87 children's books she wrote, Catherine Woolley delighted generations of young readers around the world with stories of children, animals, a friendly ghost, and mysterious happenings.
She was so prolific that her publisher told her to use a nom de plume for some books. She chose Jane Thayer, her grandmother's name, for the many picture books she wrote.
For her older readers, she used her real name on books such as the ''Ginnie and Geneva" series about the adventures of two young girls. Many of the books were translated into foreign languages.
Ms. Woolley died Saturday in her Truro home. She was 100 and had been in failing health in recent years.
Until then, said her niece Betsy Drinkwater of Enfield, N.H., Ms. Woolley was a lover of books and a ''lifelong Democrat."
''After her 100th birthday last summer, her goal was to live long enough to vote in the 2004 election, and she did," Drinkwater said.
''She was a character," Drinkwater said. ''She never married, was very independent, and traveled all over the world. ''
A petite woman with blue eyes and curly hair, Ms. Woolley was also feisty, said a Truro neighbor, Peggy Longgood. ''She was clear in what she believed in and thought, and she would not back down on anything. She was indomitable."
Ms. Woolley continued to write into her 80s and 90s, Drinkwater said. Her last published work was 1989's ''Writing for Children," in which she advised adults how to write children's books. It wasn't easy, she warned.
Though Ms. Woolley never had children, she seemed to have a kinship with them, friends said. In her books, she often drew on her own experiences and world travels. She always urged students at the writers' workshops she taught on Cape Cod to write what they knew. In ''Writing for Children," she writes: ''There is a delight in working with words, because if you are a writer you love the magic of words and you love using words to bring children into the world you are creating."
Ms. Woolley was born in Chicago to Edward Mott and Anna Lazelle (Thayer) Woolley. She grew up in Passaic, N.J. Her father was a newspaperman in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Ms. Woolley attended both Barnard College in New York and the University of California at Los Angeles, earning her bachelor's degree from UCLA in 1927.
Ms. Woolley's niece said that after college, she worked in public relations in New York and eventually moved back with her parents in Passaic in the 1930s during the Great Depression. She lived in Passaic until she was 60.
Drinkwater believes that Ms. Woolley wrote for magazines before her first book, ''I Like Trains," was published in 1944.
In the early 1960s, she moved into a house she had bought in Truro, pounding out books on an old Remington typewriter. She never used a computer.
Among her many books were ''The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy," about a dog who was looking for a master and found more than one at an orphanage, and a series about ''Gus the Ghost," a friendly apparition.
On Cape Cod, Ms. Woolley was a fixture at writing and book events. She helped start a book club, worked with the Friends of the Truro Library, taught at writing workshops, and held story hours at the library.
When the library opened its new building in 1996, it named its children's room after her.
''Catherine's writing and literary life was paramount to her," said Anne Brock of North Truro, a former library trustee.
One of Ms. Woolley's students was Yoko Kawashima Watkins of Brewster, with whom she worked for a year on a manuscript for Watkins's suc
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 24, 2018
Gus the Ghost is more than a bit picky about how he dresses. He has a homespun and a linen sheet and alternates wearing and washing them so he stays looking his ghostly best. After a few hundred years of haunting, he is getting a bit tired of ironing though. Then he sees an advertisement for drip-dry sheets. No more ironing! He goes to buy a new white sheet....and sees a display of colorful, beautiful sheets! He wants a little color in his life! But he has to get a bit creative!
Gus is by far my favorite character from children's books. His first story, Gus Was a Friendly Ghost, was my favorite book as a child. I discovered just this year that there are 7 more Gus stories! This series is so cute and sweet. The stories are uplifting and the illustrations by Seymour Fleishman are always wonderful.
There are 8 books in the Gus the Ghost series. Gus is friendly and loves his friends, Mouse the Mouse, Cora the Cat and even cranky old Mr. Frizzle. :) I always have a copy of the first book on my keeper shelf....and now I'm hunting down the other 7 so I can read the stories to my grandkids when they visit. I'm happy to share Gus with them! I hope they love him as much as I did!
Gus is by far my favorite character from children's books. His first story, Gus Was a Friendly Ghost, was my favorite book as a child. I discovered just this year that there are 7 more Gus stories! This series is so cute and sweet. The stories are uplifting and the illustrations by Seymour Fleishman are always wonderful.
There are 8 books in the Gus the Ghost series. Gus is friendly and loves his friends, Mouse the Mouse, Cora the Cat and even cranky old Mr. Frizzle. :) I always have a copy of the first book on my keeper shelf....and now I'm hunting down the other 7 so I can read the stories to my grandkids when they visit. I'm happy to share Gus with them! I hope they love him as much as I did!
August 19, 2022
Gus encounters modernity in this story.
He is okay with what he has a first, but when once he attempts to find an easier sheet to clean, he sees numerous colored sheets. Like any good Consumerist, he cannot stop thinking about buying on of these sheets, but, unlike the good Consumerist and quite like the good Moralist, he resists the temptation to buy the colored sheets because it thinks it is against ghost law. Nevertheless, by being exposed to a temptation, the addict settles in, and he falls into a depression, becomes angry, etc., by virtue of not having a colored sheet.
Soon, he accidentally discovers that the use of a white sheet is NOT required by ghost laws, and so he endeavors to buy a colored sheets. This fails because he is poor. However, his poverty turns out to be the silver in the storm, because he finds out about decorating sheets HIMSELF!
Therefore, Gus encounters the wonders (seemingly) of Consumerist modernity, loses his pre-modern happiness, and is finally able to overcome all sense of dictation (the white sheet was a dictation, too, just as much as the mass produced sheets at the store are dictations) by creating his own colored sheets.
He is okay with what he has a first, but when once he attempts to find an easier sheet to clean, he sees numerous colored sheets. Like any good Consumerist, he cannot stop thinking about buying on of these sheets, but, unlike the good Consumerist and quite like the good Moralist, he resists the temptation to buy the colored sheets because it thinks it is against ghost law. Nevertheless, by being exposed to a temptation, the addict settles in, and he falls into a depression, becomes angry, etc., by virtue of not having a colored sheet.
Soon, he accidentally discovers that the use of a white sheet is NOT required by ghost laws, and so he endeavors to buy a colored sheets. This fails because he is poor. However, his poverty turns out to be the silver in the storm, because he finds out about decorating sheets HIMSELF!
Therefore, Gus encounters the wonders (seemingly) of Consumerist modernity, loses his pre-modern happiness, and is finally able to overcome all sense of dictation (the white sheet was a dictation, too, just as much as the mass produced sheets at the store are dictations) by creating his own colored sheets.
September 9, 2019
Its a bit wordy and long for a toddler, BUT I LOVE the lessons learned in the story. Gus goes through depression. Gus also becomes an innovator and does a great deal of work and research to get what he wants. I am hoping my nieces can sit through this story!
July 13, 2025
“The Laws of Ghostdom say we wear white sheets!”
“Believe me, Cora,” said Gus,
“I bitterly resent
having to be plain white
just because I’m a ghost.
I have a right
to some color and beauty in my life!”
“Believe me, Cora,” said Gus,
“I bitterly resent
having to be plain white
just because I’m a ghost.
I have a right
to some color and beauty in my life!”
September 12, 2021
Not very good.
October 17, 2024
This was fun but less so than the first in my opinion. I did enjoy him coloring sheets with vegetables.
October 23, 2025
I always enjoyed this one as a kid and wanted to decorate sheets like Gus.
March 26, 2011
This was a story that my mother read to my sister and me when we were children. I had forgotten all about it until I found it on the shelves at the library yesterday. I read it to my niece and nephew, and they both enjoyed it as much as my sister and I did when we were young!
My niece was particularly fascinated by Gus' problem, and she had fun listening to how he was going to solve his need for color and beauty in his life. I was tickled that she reconized some other famous ghosts who made cameos in the story, and I think that made her laugh a bit, too.
My nephew is three, and he informed me that, "ghosts and witches are scary," but I think that as he realized that Gus was a nice ghost he became more interested in his antics. After we read the book he asked his mama if she would read it to him at bedtime, so it all worked out in the end.
Very cute story, and the black and white illustrations with occasional bursts of vivid color make the story very impactful. I'm glad I rediscovered it!
My niece was particularly fascinated by Gus' problem, and she had fun listening to how he was going to solve his need for color and beauty in his life. I was tickled that she reconized some other famous ghosts who made cameos in the story, and I think that made her laugh a bit, too.
My nephew is three, and he informed me that, "ghosts and witches are scary," but I think that as he realized that Gus was a nice ghost he became more interested in his antics. After we read the book he asked his mama if she would read it to him at bedtime, so it all worked out in the end.
Very cute story, and the black and white illustrations with occasional bursts of vivid color make the story very impactful. I'm glad I rediscovered it!
February 1, 2016
This is such a cute story about a ghost living in an attic with a mouse and a cat. The ghost has two different white sheets he wears and washes everyday. One day at the store Gus sees colored sheets and he wants to have one to wear but he remembers that the Ghost Laws say he has to wear a white sheet. After a while of sulking Gus finds the Ghost Laws and sees that actually it never says the sheet has to be white, so he paints all different colored designs on his white sheet. He then has to explain to the community that he is not disobeying the rules of Ghost Law.
I absolutely love this book. The illustrations are all black and white except for when Gus starts wearing color. I really like how the ghost isn't a typical scary ghost as well.
I would use this book during Halloween if my school did not allow Halloween to be celebrated. It is still a good Halloween story but nothing controversial and the ghost is nice and has a good message of being yourself no matter what everyone else does.
I absolutely love this book. The illustrations are all black and white except for when Gus starts wearing color. I really like how the ghost isn't a typical scary ghost as well.
I would use this book during Halloween if my school did not allow Halloween to be celebrated. It is still a good Halloween story but nothing controversial and the ghost is nice and has a good message of being yourself no matter what everyone else does.
February 1, 2016
This book starts out introducing Gus, Cora, and Mouse. Gus is searching for color in his life when all of a sudden he finds colorful drip-dry sheets! He in enthralled with each and every one of them! Sadly, Gus cannot buy then because it is apparently against the Law of Ghostdom! Poor Gus becomes grouchy and just down right mean! One day Gus stumbles upon something that may eventually change his attitude!
I think this was such a cute book and I would love to use this in my classroom one day! I thought the storyline was very creative and the ending line just ties it all together! It was a fun book!
I think this was such a cute book and I would love to use this in my classroom one day! I thought the storyline was very creative and the ending line just ties it all together! It was a fun book!
November 1, 2013
I got a lot of books from garage sales as a kid and this was one of them. Gus is tired of wearing plain white sheets and wants to change the rules so ghosts can wear beautiful colors. This is a fun Halloween story.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews