No Such Thing: spooky (not scary!) picture book

In the new Flying Eye picture book No Such Thing, a little girl named Georgia finds herself in a delightfully spooky situation: things in her home keep going astray -- but Georgia knows that there's no such thing as ghosts. Cory Doctorow field tested the book on his six year old, and comes back with a tale of mystery, delight, and fright, just in time for Hallowe'en.

Poor Georgia! her headphones, dolls, crayons and even her broom keep going missing! On every page, Georgia finds some innocent party to blame: the cat, the dog, a bird, even a spider! And when they protest that the items were taken away by ghosts, sensible Georgia insists that there's no such thing as ghosts.

Every one of the spreads has a ghost (or more than one!) hidden cleverly in the action, mixed in with beautiful illustrations of Georgia's mid-century modern house and its sweet vintage decor. The ghosts get progressively easier to spot, and by the third spread, my daughter Poesy had yanked the book out of my hands and was eagerly tracking them down and reading the book to me.

No Such Thing is spooky without ever being scary — just the right kind of silly ghost-story for the run-up to Hallowe'en. Artist/author Ella Bailey has done a wonderful job of telling a story with pictures and words, and there are delightful visual flourishes on every page, conveying the full flavor of Georgia's increasing insistence that there must be a rational explanation for all these things.

By the final page, where all the ghosts make an appearance, we're delighted to see them out in the open, so that Georgia can join in the ghoulish festivities.

No Such Thing is from London's Flying Eye Books, an imprint of Nobrow Press. It's out in the UK today, and comes out in the USA on Nov 4.

-Cory Doctorow