pagingmrsvarnum's review

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funny informative lighthearted medium-paced

4.5

Thank you to NetGalley and Quirk Books for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This book is the second in A Totally Factual Field Guide to the Supernatural series (the first book, which I also reviewed earlier this year, is on Vampires). My students can’t get enough books on any spooky topic, and this is going to be another huge hit in my library. The formatting of the book is so beautiful - even kids appreciate good design - and the tone of the writing will absolutely resonate with even reluctant readers.

Just as the first book in this series, this book focuses on the topic of ghosts through a scientific, factual-based lens but with lots of humor and references to pop culture.The book includes perceptions of ghosts through different cultures, which is really important to me when choosing books to add to my school library. This book even touches on topics like confirmation bias, word origin, science, research, media literacy, mythology, and travel. But it does so in a way that is totally accessible and engaging to young readers.

These are the kinds of books that kids are going to read again and again and share with their friends. Plus, the book is published with plenty of time to order for Spooky Season! Grades 2+


indieandajean's review

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informative lighthearted medium-paced

4.5

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the advance reader copy of Chilling with Ghosts in return for my honest review.

I have to say that I very much enjoyed Chilling With Ghosts. The book is well written, keeps a positive tone throughout and offers plenty of ghost information that kids love, paired with interesting and exciting facts about science, history and literature.

The author manages to keep a humorous but trustworthy tone throughout the book and the pacing makes the book a quick read with a satisfying amount of content. 

The only negative I can find with the book is that the text makes frequent homages to media which may or may not be relevant to a child today, let alone in the next few years. I appreciated the references to Danny Phantom, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and the Ghost Busters reboot, but I can see kids just skimming over that section.

Overall this is one of my favorite paranormal nonfiction books for children to date
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