While on my weekly trip to the library, I wanted to pick up some books for Halloween for Ty. He is a bit of a ghost/scary story freak and I thought this might be the perfect time to indulge his craving! One of the books I chose is called Bumps in the Night written by Harry Allard and illustrated by James Marshall.

What really piqued my interest about this book is that it is a chapter book. It has six short chapters that make it quite easy to be read either in one session or broken down into 3 to 6 sessions. I generally read this one chapter a night, with other books to make full use of the chapters.

Chapters

A Sleepless Night
Dudley the Stork is having trouble sleeping. He hears strange noises that he can't identify and feels something wet touch his beak. As he cowers under the bed, he comes to one conclusion: "my house is haunted!"

Trevor Hog Has an Idea
And what a brilliant one it is. We are introduced to Mr. Hog as Dudley's best friend in this chapter. He thinks that it would be a good idea for Dudley to talk to his ghost through a medium at a seance! Now, maybe I'm a little stiff, but I wasn't wild about these terms being used and then explained by cute little animal characters. It's just a little too grown-up for my four-year old.

A Spooky Pair
In this chapter we meet the medium, Madam Kreepy and her sidekick, Lazlo Frog. We are also introduced to a few more characters, Grandpa Python and Georgina the Ostrich who come out of nowhere and add nothing to the story. Grandpa Python annoys Madam Kreepy by mistakenly calling her Madam Creepers throughout the rest of the story.

The Seance
In this chapter, we see what a seance is like. Grandpa Python gets Madam Kreepy's name wrong a few more times for good measure and a trance is discussed. Seems Madam's in a good old spooky one.

The Ghost
The seance is successful and contact with the haunted spirit is made! Come to find out, it's and old horse that used to live in the house. He explains some of the noises he's been making, like the time poor Dudley heard a loud banging, it was only him playing leapfrog. He turns out to be a pretty decent guy, except for the fact that he's dead.

A New Friend
You guessed it: the ghost and Dudley become friends and learn to live happily ever after. No one was ever scared again when they would hear bumps in the middle of the night, after all, it was only a ghost.

What I Liked
I like the fact that the book has chapters that can be easily conquered in one night if necessary, or spread out over a few nights to make the suspense linger! Another plus is that the words are in quite a large font, which makes them easier for little eyes to read and recognize letters. The pictures are comical, as well.

What I Didn't Like
The main negative point of this book is that it was just plain boring. I would even say it was silly, at a time when silly isn't good. The illustrations are done in black, white and pink. They are comical, but not engaging. Lastly, the characters are so one-dimensional, even for a children's book, they are completely forgettable. Because of these reason, the bad far outweighs the good and I can't recommend this book.

Important Information

This book was published in 1979. I borrowed our copy from the library, but you can get one at www.half.com for just seventy-five cents!

ISBN: 0-385-32282-8

Recommended: No