cover image Bedtime for Boo

Bedtime for Boo

Mickie Matheis, illus. by Bonnie Leick. Random/Golden, $10.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-375-86991-4

In debut author Matheis’s twist on a conventional bedtime story, a chubby, cherubic ghost named Boo lives with his family in a dilapidated house. After a fun night of flying and spooking, it’s time for bed. Coaxing Boo to sleep, his curly-haired Mama tucks him in, urging him to “Listen to the sounds of the house,” including the ghosts whooshing by, bats flapping, and black cats hissing. Leick’s characterizations of the ghosts, witches, mummies, and more are so gentle that even skittish readers will feel cozy, not creeped-out, at book’s end. Ages 2–up. (Aug.)