Ghoulia and the Doomed Manor (Ghoulia Book #4)

by Barbara Cantini

Overview

In Book 4 of this Tim Burton–inspired chapter book series, Ghoulia and her family hit the road for summer vacation!

Ghoulia, Auntie Departed, and Uncle Misfortune are ready for a vacation. They pack up their things and head to Fancy Manor to visit Cousin Dilbert and Auntie Witch. Fancy Manor is nice and rundown, and it’s on Lake Mystery—with lots of opportunity for swimming and other summer fun.

But there’s a hitch in the plan. Because Fancy Manor seems abandoned, the town plans to reclaim the property in just a few days unless a living heir comes forward. Will Ghoulia be able to brew a Return to Life potion strong enough to convince the staff at town hall that this zombie family is actually alive?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647000912
Publisher:	ABRAMS
Publication date:	09/07/2021
Series:	Ghoulia Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	64
File size:	55 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Barbara Cantini is the illustrator of numerous books for young readers. The Ghoulia series is her first author-illustrated project. She lives in the Tuscan countryside with her husband, their two daughters, three cats, and a slightly daft hamster.

Editorial Reviews

"Rendered in bold colors in a delightfully creepy Tim Burton–esque style, they appear on every page, often in double-page spreads, and include lots of small details and quirky annotations that young readers will enjoy examining closely." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

08/06/2021

Gr 1–3—The fourth book in Cantini's series finds young zombie Ghoulia visiting her undead family at Fancy Manor for the first time. Before long, the vacation is interrupted by the town planner, who posts a sign at the estate that the property is to be auctioned, since the house is uninhabited and there are no living heirs. Luckily, cousin Dilbert has the perfect solution: a back-to-life potion! After taking the potion, Auntie Witch and Ghoulia convince the town planner that they are living inhabitants of the manor, and the whole family gets in on the hijinks when he visits the house for an inspection. The extensive illustrations are the real stars of the book, and do most of the heavy lifting where setting and character development are concerned. Rendered in bold colors in a delightfully creepy Tim Burton—esque style, they appear on every page, often in double-page spreads, and include lots of small details and quirky annotations that young readers will enjoy examining closely. Unfortunately, the story itself is not as successful. It ends rather abruptly without much resolution, and the text, translated from Italian, is rather lackluster. In addition, while the number of sentences on each page is limited, some vocabulary may be challenging. Back matter includes a recipe, word search, and coloring activity. VERDICT Purchase where other books in the series are popular, or for large collections in need of humorous, spooky illustrated chapter books.—Lauren Strohecker, McKinley Elem. Sch., Elkins Park, PA

School Library Journal