Redwall fans will love the ghostly side of Brian Jacques!
Filled with humor, adventure, and imagination, these seven short stories go from the lighthearted to the bizarre. From a teenager who drives a museum curator to mummify him for signing Phantom Snake (an anagram of his name) all over his exhibits, to a boy who's dared to visit the tomb of a vampire at midnight only to discover that the vampire boy he meets has a mother who nags just like his own, the eerie and chilling settings and characters will captivate readers.
"Well crafted and smoothly written...While suitable for reading aloud, the tales are even better under the covers with a flashlight." --Booklist, starred review
"Brian Jacques, author of the Redwall books, proves to have a surprising gift for amusing, sometimes horrifying, sometimes quite poignant ghost stories....An excellent choice for reading aloud." --The Horn Book
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Jacques's collection of original ghost stories features "the requisite apparitions, vampires and satanic incarnations, all spun with a distinctly English flair," said PW. Ages 8-12. (Aug.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8-- A collection of seven competently told tales set in modern-day Britain, ranging from a funny "pact with the Devil" story to more traditional vampire and ghostly fare. There is a satisfying amount of spookiness in each, even though the conclusions are telegraphed ahead of time. Each story is preceded by an original poem that is intended to pique interest in the tale that follows; as poetry, these selections are mediocre, but they do add a nice balance of humor to what is otherwise the same old stuff. The subject will be popular with a wide audience, although the lack of illustrations and the fairly dense blocks of text may intimidate some readers. Leach's Thing at the Foot of the Bed (Philomel, 1987) and Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (Lippincott, 1981), to name only two, will not be eclipsed by this newcomer. --JoAnn Rees, Sunnyvale Public Library, CA Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
A well-known radio personality in his native Liverpool--as well as an actor, stand-up comic, and playwright--Brian Jacques (1939-2011) was the host of "Jakestown" on BBC Radio Merseyside. Ever the performer, Jacques was well-known for applying his acting and entertainment background to his lively presentations to legions of young fans at schools across the United States and England. Brian Jacques was born in Liverpool, England on June 15th, 1939. Along with forty percent of the population of Liverpool, his ancestral roots are in Ireland, County Cork to be exact. He grew up in the area around the Liverpool docks. His interest in adventure stories began at an early age with reading the books of: Daniel Defoe, Sir Henry Rider Haggard, Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Thomas Malory, Robert Michael Ballantyne, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Kenneth Grahame. He attended St. John's School, an inner city school that had its playground on the roof. On his first day at St. John's, at the age of ten, he had an experience that marked his potential as a writer. When given an assignment of writing a story about animals, he wrote about the bird that cleaned a crocodile's teeth. The teacher could not, and would not, believe that a ten year old could write that well. When young Brian refused to falsely say that he had copied the story, he was caned as "a liar". He had always loved to write, but it was only then, that he realized that he had a talent for writing. "My favourite teacher was Mr. Austin Thomas. He looked like Lee Marvin. Big Man. A Captain in World War II. He came to school on a big bush bike with the haversack on back. He was a man's man. Always fair. I was fourteen at the time when Mr. Thomas introduced the class to poetry and Greek literature. (Because of him, I saved seven shillings and sixpence to buy The Iliad and The Odyssey at this dusty used book shop.)" This interest in poetry extended to Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Goldsmith. It was also at St. John's that Brian met a teacher, Alan Durband (who also taught two Beatles, Paul McCartney and George Harrison), who, more than thirty years later would bring about a major change in his life. After Brian finished school at fifteen, he set out to find adventure as a merchant seaman. He travelled to many far away ports, including New York, Valparaiso, San Francisco, and Yokohama. Tiring of the lonely life of a sailor, he returned to Liverpool where he worked as a railway fireman, a longshoreman, a long-distance truck driver, a bus driver, a boxer, a bobby (Police Constable 216D), a postmaster, and a stand-up comic. Jacques passed away in February of 2011 at the age of 71.
Brian Jacques is best known for his Redwall series, but surprisingly enough, Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales is an undescovered gem. This book is intended for kids 9-14, but unlike Goosebumps or other stories for the age range, this book has rich writing bursting with original ideas. Take, for example, a story where a boy fools the Devil himself. Read this book, you won't be dissapointed
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 starsMore interesting than scary, September 25, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Seven Strange & Ghostly Tales (Paperback)
If you're looking for something to keep you awake all night in fright, look elsewhere. This is not a shock and scream book. However, if you're looking for suspenseful stories that are well-written, thought provoking, and can double as cautionary tales, this is the collection for you. The poetry before each story and the word play within in are good enough to merit special note. This is a book people of any age can enjoy.
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Brian Jacques is a great author, he can make
stories that have been told several times before seem new and original. This collection of stories is quite interesting, funny and descriptive, and hey, a little eerie. You can see how they are similar to Redwall books, also written by him, with sort of the same type of diolouge, and the poetry is QUITE similar. This is a good book for reading while on a vacation away from home.
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