Childish Spirits: 10th anniversary special edition by Rob Keeley

Childish Spirits: 10th anniversary special edition by Rob Keeley
Buy Childish Spirits: 10th anniversary special edition by Rob Keeley at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Confident Readers
Reviewer: Jill Murphy
Summary: Ghost story from Bookbag favourite Rob Keeley. First in a series and a departure from his usual short story format, this is a celebratory tenth anniversary edition.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 187	Date: May 2024
Publisher: Troubador
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 1783064617
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Around here, we're big fans of children's author Rob Keeley. He's a ball of happy positivity, he understands children, and he writes for their pleasure and enjoyment, not to lecture or hector. 

The Childish Spirits series is one of his greatest achievements. It's a sequence of ghost stories centring on Ellie, a stalwart young girl who can cope with anything the spirit world throws at her, and Edward, a spoiled lordling and the first spirit Ellie encounters. The books are ghost mysteries and fantastic to read, covering ground from family break up, to British black history, Elizabethan England and even an attempt to prevent WWII by capitulating to the Nazis.

It's ten years since the first book in the series was published and Rob has decided to celebrate with an anniversary edition of the first novel, Childish Spirits. The main narrative is tidied up and has some new scenes added - readers will enjoy spotting them and discovering a secret Miss McKendrick would rather they didn't! There's a prologue and an epilogue now, and the addition of four short stories with an explanation of where they fit into the overall arc.of the series. I particularly enjoyed The Spirit of the Season in which a mean earl gets a lesson in seasonal good cheer. 

Fans of this series will find a lot to enjoy. They can play spot the difference from the original and get some new material to boot. What's not to like?  Below you can find our page listing our reviews of the whole series. And our contemporaneous review of Childish Spiritis from 2014.

Rob Keeley's ''Spirits'' series in Chronological Order

Ellie and her mum and brother Charlie have moved into Inchwood Manor. Ellie's mum is going to transform the old house into a heritage visitor attraction. Ellie doesn't mind this but she does wish her dad had come too. But for some reason, he hasn't. And if Ellie wasn't texting him, he wouldn't even know how they were getting on. There's a great deal of work to be done to get Inchwood Manor ready and mum is busy with manager Marcus. Charlie is busy being fed up at being stuck in the back end of beyond. And so neither of them notice the strange things that Ellie does...

... there's a mysterious boy at one of the upstairs windows. Objects move themselves in the abandoned nursery. A strange woman appears in Ellie's dreams. It's soon quite clear to Ellie that Inchwood Manor is haunted. And she finds herself caught in the middle of a Victorian mystery and a supernatural battle. Can she help Edward, the Inchwood Manor ghost, before Mum and Charlie write her off as a total lunatic?

Rob Keeley often writes short stories so this full-length novel brought something new to his fans. And it's great. There are some pretty scary moments but I don't think anything that will cause nightmares, thanks to an added dollop of comedy. Ellie is a great heroine. She's thoughtful and arty but not priggish. And she's very brave. The ghostly Edward throws his best spectral tricks her way but she is never daunted. And, as their friendship grows, she risks quite a lot to help him.

Childish Spirits has all the elements of a classic ghost story - a crumbling manor house, an evil governess, Victorian spiritualism - but it also has a very modern setting that readers will feel at home with. In particular, the stresses and strains within Ellie's family are all too recognisable to a modern child. The teasing and bickering that goes on between Ellie and Charlie is exactly the same as the teasing and bickering between siblings that goes on at my house. And, though I cringe to say it, so is Mum's busy distraction. Mum doesn't always notice everything that's going on because she is so busy with work and a failing marriage.

It's a breeze to read, too. Directly written with an accessible vocabulary but never simplistic, and there are plenty of jokes to balance out the scary parts. Childish Spirits is great and the rest of the series is fantastic too..

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You can read more book reviews or buy Childish Spirits: 10th anniversary special edition by Rob Keeley at Amazon.com.

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