Ghost for Sale by Terry Deary

Ghost for Sale by Terry Deary
Buy Ghost for Sale by Terry Deary at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Dyslexia Friendly
Reviewer: Ruth Ng
Summary: Silliness galore with spooky furniture shenanigans, easy to read and fun for children and their grown ups!
Buy? yes	Borrow? yes
Pages: 64	Date: November 2015
Publisher: Barrington Stoke Ltd
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 9781781125182
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When Mr and Mrs Rundle see an advert in the paper for a wardrobe for sale, complete with ghost, Mrs Rundle decides that they absolutely must have it! They own The Dog and Duck Inn and Mrs Rundle feels that addition of a ghost will add interest to their Inn and bring them custom. The arrival of the wardrobe certainly shakes things up for the Rundles, though perhaps not in the way they'd imagined!

This book, as well as being a funny ghost story, is also a dyslexia friendly book. This means that as well as having a specially designed font, where all the characters are distinct, it is also printed on an off-white paper. This helps to reduce the glare on the page, which can be distracting to readers, and the paper is also thick enough to ensure that you can't see the print on the reverse side through the paper, which can also be distracting and make reading harder. The spacing between words and lines of text has been carefully designed to give the best reading experience, and there are clearly defined chapters to give readers natural rest breaks in the text. All of the Barrington Stokes books are tested by children and young people, and these special amendments not only help those with dyslexia but they generally make it an easier reading experience for all readers. It's worth mentioning that being dyslexia friendly also means that any parents who struggle to read aloud with their children might find these books helpful too in making that bedtime story reading process a little easier for them.

As well as these helpful design alterations, the book is also illustrated and although they are just black and white images they are quite detailed and fun, and they support the text throughout, giving those who are struggling clues towards what's happening. The story itself is also well written and accessible without being overly simplistic. I personally enjoyed the depiction of the relationship between Mr and Mrs Rundle, though just the basic story by itself is a good read. There are also a set of questions at the end that would work as good prompts for a discussion around the story, either on a one to one basis after reading it with your child, or within a classroom with a group of readers.

For any self-conscious readers it's worth knowing that the only hint to this being a specially designed book is a big dyslexia friendly sticker that can be easily peeled off. Otherwise this looks like any other story. Great for those probably around 7 years and older, this is a funny and well designed book.

Further reading suggestion: You might also enjoy this other dyslexia friendly books like Wolfman by Michael Rosen and Chris Mould or Desirable by Frank Cottrell Boyce.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Ghost for Sale by Terry Deary at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Ghost for Sale by Terry Deary at Amazon.com.

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