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A review by woolfardis
Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse by Chris Riddell
4.0
Ada Goth lives in Ghastly-Gorm Hall with her father whom she barely sees or talks to, Lord Goth, along with lots of servants and several ghosts. Each day she trudges around Ghastly-Gorm Hall in ginormous boots because her father believes that children should be "heard and not seen". One night, Ada wakes up to the sound of a ghost mouse squeaking and they both set out to explore the mysterious goings on...
Not gonna lie, this was a cover-buy and I'm so glad of it. I first heard of Chris Riddell through Waterstones on Twitter when he became the Children's Laureate and I instantly fell in love with his drawing style. It was a few months later that I found out he had some books out, too.
Illustrated and written by Riddell, Goth Girl tells of Ada Goth (based on Ada Lovelace in a sense) and her home, Ghastly-Gorm Hall. It has English literature puns and references galore, though some take a bit of working out as Riddell has taken some liberty with them. The story itself is fairly simply, though I am delighted to say that it is not written in that awful style you sometimes get with children's books where the author is talking down to their intended audience because, as everyone knows, children are stupid. It is neither patronising nor simple, it is simply a delight.
The illustrations are what make it, and of course they should be. I spent a lot of the time when reading this by playing with the reflective light around the edges of the gilt pages. There's little characterisation that isn't on the surface and the world-building is simply the house and it's gardens, but I honestly believe that if you pick this up expecting anything more you deserve to be disappointed. It is beautiful in every sense of the word and the story is a great way to introduce children (and, indeed, adults) to a lot of the Victorian-era popular figures of literature and other areas.
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Not gonna lie, this was a cover-buy and I'm so glad of it. I first heard of Chris Riddell through Waterstones on Twitter when he became the Children's Laureate and I instantly fell in love with his drawing style. It was a few months later that I found out he had some books out, too.
Illustrated and written by Riddell, Goth Girl tells of Ada Goth (based on Ada Lovelace in a sense) and her home, Ghastly-Gorm Hall. It has English literature puns and references galore, though some take a bit of working out as Riddell has taken some liberty with them. The story itself is fairly simply, though I am delighted to say that it is not written in that awful style you sometimes get with children's books where the author is talking down to their intended audience because, as everyone knows, children are stupid. It is neither patronising nor simple, it is simply a delight.
The illustrations are what make it, and of course they should be. I spent a lot of the time when reading this by playing with the reflective light around the edges of the gilt pages. There's little characterisation that isn't on the surface and the world-building is simply the house and it's gardens, but I honestly believe that if you pick this up expecting anything more you deserve to be disappointed. It is beautiful in every sense of the word and the story is a great way to introduce children (and, indeed, adults) to a lot of the Victorian-era popular figures of literature and other areas.
Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Shop | Etsy