Little Ghoul Goes to School

The illustrations are as entertaining as the text, adding a layer of humor with the reversal of what's delightful and what's fearful in the perspective of this oddly endearing little monster....An adorably soothing introduction to the potential terrors of school.

Czekaj’s splendidly horrid twist on the standard account of first-day jitters is bound to get kids giggling…. A fun book for releasing nerves and finding comfort.

New-to-school fears are humorously explored in this story of one little ghoul whose first day doesn’t go as expected….a uniquely monstrous perspective on a common kid milestone

PreS-Gr 2--As she gobbles up a bedtime snack of spiders and brushes her teeth with rotten-onion toothpaste, Little Ghoul is nervous about the next morning, the first day of school. The young monster's mother tucks her into bed and reassures her "little maggot" that her first day will be just horrible. When she wakes up, Little Ghoul hopes for the weather to be cold and rainy, but is disgruntled by the sight of a bright and sunny morning. Expecting her teacher to be mean, she is disappointed to discover they are welcoming and caring. Little Ghoul's classmates are human children diverse in race, gender, and ability, and don't appear the least bit bothered by a pleasant first day of school. After enduring such a nice morning, Little Ghoul is ready for the disgusting and rotten lunch waiting in her lunch box, but is once again defeated at the sight of a delicious sandwich and cookie. A smiling boy even tries to be Little Ghoul's friend and she runs away screaming. Suddenly Little Ghoul is jolted awake by the beeping of her alarm clock. Was it all just a good dream? This book hilariously depicts a little monster's alternative reality using bold cartoon-style illustrations drawn with ink and digitally colored. Pair with a little dinosaur's first day of school in Ryan T. Higgins's We Don't Eat Our Classmates for a laugh-out-loud story time. VERDICT A recommended, imaginative, and playful read-aloud perfect for preschool and early elementary school, sure to scare away the first-day-of-school nerves.--Emily Brush, Novi P.L., MI

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Little Ghoul, a light green fanged creature, hopes her first day of school will be awful, with a rusty bus, a mean teacher, and no friends. But the bus has a friendly driver, and the principal of Sunshine Elementary greets her with a grin. Her peanut-butter-and-jelly lunch is a far cry from her preferred "maggot-and-brown-banana-peel sandwich, rotten milk, and a pickle-and-fishbone cookie for dessert." But the tattooed librarian, Ms. Shelley, might just save the day. Author-illustrator Czekaj plays reversals throughout to full comedic effect: "Her mom slobbered on her and tenderly said, 'I hope you have dreadful nightmares.' " Comics-style paneled art, rendered in ink and colored digitally, is approachable, expressive, and inclusive, with characters of differing abilities, religions, and skin tones. Adults will appreciate allusions to Mary Shelley and Edward Gorey in this entertaining subversion, which simultaneously serves as an ode to librarians. Ages 4-8. (June)

Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.