The Bump in the Night

by Anne Rockwell

Fearless Toby the tinker repairs a ghost and reaps the reward.

Genres: Picture Books

55 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Monica Renaud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mine and the boys fav, passed on to us from cousins, magical and a bit scary, lovely to read :)

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toby the Tinker is not afraid of anything, and he uses his talent for fixing things to help the ghost in a haunted castle.

This easy reader ghost story is mildly scary and offbeat. Toby the Tinker decides to spend the night in a haunted castle and is unperturbed by the ghost's howls and bumps. Eventually, the ghost himself appears -- one severed limb at a time. Toby reassembles him after which they have dinner and a chat.

One thing that always struck me as a child was that when the ghost "went away" after being repaired, he literally walked away as if he were going somewhere else in the physical world instead moving on to the afterlife in a spiritual realm.

[D'Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dismemberment and re-memberment for children.

[Montana-IFC · Rating 5 out of 5]

School challenge. Retained, 1989.