About the Holiday

The idea for National Ghost Hunting Day was scared up by the folks at Haunted Travels as a kick off to the season of mystery, thrills, chills, and autumn festivals that culminates in Halloween on October 31. On the last Saturday in September the whole spooky business gets going at The ScareFest in Lexington, Kentucky, as ghost-hunting teams in the United States and worldwide simultaneously investigate paranormal phenomenon in various venues. Participants will be collecting evidence supporting their spectral theories with EMF meters, digital thermometers, handheld and static digital video cameras, audio recorders and computers. To learn more about this holiday and how you can join the fun, visit the National Ghost Hunt website.

Sleeping Bear Press sent me a copy of Mother Ghost to check out. All opinions are my own. I’m happy to be partnering with Sleeping Bear Press in a giveaway of the book. See details below.

Mother Ghost: Nursery Rhymes for Little Monsters

Written by Rachel Kolar | Illustrated by Roland Garrigue

Can you feel it? The giddy excitement for Halloween is already beginning—and if your kids haven’t started thinking about ghouls and goblins and costumes yet, they will soon! This collection of nursery rhymes with a spooky flair is just the thing to share as the days quickly run to that kid-favorite night. The first poem is the invitation kids are waiting for: “Boys and girls, come trick-or-treat; / The moon is bright, the candy’s sweet. … / … Howl and cackle and shout and cheer / Because Halloween is finally here!”

Image copyright Roland Garrigue, 2018, courtesy of Sleeping Bear Press.

Kids all remember Mary and the wooly companion she took to school, but during this season she has a new friend. Can you guess who it is? See if you were you right: “Mary had a little ghost; / His face was white as cloud, / And everywhere that Mary went / He followed in his shroud….” How do Mary’s classmates react? How would you?

Back in the day, Miss Muffet may have been afraid of a spider, but not any longer. In fact: “Zombie Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet, / Eating her worms and dirt, / When along came a spider who sat down beside her— / And so she ate him for dessert.”

Image copyright Roland Garrigue, 2018, text copyright Rachel Kolar, 2018. Courtesy of Sleeping Bear Press.

If you ever wonder how Dr. Frankenstein accomplished his marvelous creation, this poem may answer your question: “Frankenstein had a marvelous mind, / And a marvelous mind had he;… / … His three new monsters all came to life / When they felt that electricity; / There’s none so fine as Frankenstein / And his marvelous monsters three!”

And how does all this happy haunting end? You’ll be glad to know that Wee Willie Werewolf will make sure that all little monsters make it home to bed.

Image copyright Roland Garrigue, 2018, text copyright Rachel Kolar, 2018. Courtesy of Sleeping Bear Press.

These appropriately numbered thirteen verses are cleverly creepy takes on favorite nursery rhymes for little ghouls and booys. Grisly details, eerie backdrops, and plenty of skeletons, witches, spiders, bats, and monsters serve up super supernatural shivers and laughs for Halloween and beyond. A bit of literary fun can be had in comparing these poems to the original Mother Goose rhymes.

Deep purple skies shroud graveyards, gnarled trees, and haunted houses as wispy specters, sly skeletons, and toothy monsters run rampant through hill and dale. Each two-page illustration is a gloriously ghastly reimagining of Mother Goose with details that the zombie- and vampire-loving set will love to pore over.

Whether Rachel Kolar’s Mother Ghost is read in small bites or swallowed whole, kid’s will dig hearing these poems again and again. It’s a book that will resonate past Halloween, and would be a fun addition to home, school, and public libraries.

Ages 4 – 7

Sleeping Bear Press, 2018 | ISBN 978-1585363926

Discover more about Rachel Kolar and her writing for children and adults on her website.

National Ghost Hunting Day Activity

Ghostly Coloring Pages 

You don’t have to go far to enjoy a bit of ghostly fun. Here are two printable coloring pages for you to enjoy!

Cute Ghost Coloring Page | Haunted Mansion Coloring Page

You can find Mother Ghost: Nursery Rhymes for Little Monsters at these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | IndieBound

Picture Book Review