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Frightfully Friendly Ghosties by Daren King (view source)
Revision as of 11:09, 29 August 2020
, 11:09, 29 August 2020no edit summary
We love Daren King here at the Bookbag. As I read ''Frightfully Friendly Ghosties'', I had to keep reminding myself it wasn't [[Sensible Hare and the Case of Carrots by Daren King|Sensible Hare]]. It's one of our absolute favourite books for confident readers, so any comparisons wouldn't really be fair. Go buy and read ''Sensible Hare'' and come back here when you've finished. ...All done? Loved it, didn't you? Great. Thought you would. Now you'll want to read ''Frightfully Friendly Ghosties''. The simple plot is a perfect hook for the quirky characters and their daft ideas to hang on. The numbering scheme for the ghosties' three rules, in particular, is just pure genius!
It's ostensibly a ghost story, but really it's just Daren King being Daren King, letting his imagination run wild and getting kids to snigger along with the silliness. I'd have liked the daftness cranked up even further, but that's just me being greedy. It's silly, it's charming, it's a joy to read. The writing is clear and crisp, allowing the plot to toddle along at its natual natural pace, but always willing to throw in a silly joke to keep the audience amused.
I love silliness. I love cheesy bits repeated over and over. Charlie Vapour often tips his hat because it's the polite thing to do. It's not even really a joke, but pausing to do it time and time again... and again... and again... gives ''Frightfully Friendly Ghosties'' a delightfulness that raises it above a light read. It's the sort of book that you'll want to dig out again when you're not sure what else to read. It's the sort of book you'll want to flick through when you're too old to be reading a book for confident readers. Recommended.
Must. Not. Re-mention. Unfair. Comparison.
My thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag. We also have a review of [[Frightfully Friendly Ghosties: Ghostly Holler-day by Daren King and David Roberts]].
For more daftness (I'm going for the record of the most uses of the word ''daft'' in a review), check out [[Toad Surprise by Morris Gleitzman]], [[Stone Goblins by David Melling]] and [[A Children's Treasury of Milligan by Spike Milligan]].