posted on 14 Jul 2018

Grandpa Bert and the Ghost Snatchers by Malorie Blackman, illustrations by Melanie Demmer

Kasper and Anna are very excited when their Grandma Gertie from Barbados comes to visit them in England – even if she is just a little bit strange with her big square glasses and a real parrot on her hat. She also seems to be preoccupied with her handbag as they travel back from the airport and when the car breaks down, they soon find out why.

Barrington's Stoke's 'Little Gems' series are compact little books that are designed to capture the imaginations of young readers and so we are always pitched into the action very early on. After a couple of pages the children and Grandma are racing down the street as she explains to them that she is being chased. She also needs to know whether they believe in ‘duppies’ which is what ghosts are called in Barbados. As you might have guessed – this is what she has hiding in her bag! It seems that the folded up body of Grandpa Bert’s ghost has come to visit because he wanted to meet his grandchildren.

The problem is that he has to remain hidden because they are being followed by a nasty pair of villains who, in the best storybook tradition, aren’t terribly good at hiding themselves:

‘The woman was as tall and thin as a pencil and the man had very wild bushy eyebrows. They looked like a big bush growing on his face’.

I like the way that the children manage to keep the secret from the parents and as a result have some pretty wild adventures with Grandma as they eventually have to rescue Grandpa from the baddies who seem determined to capture his ghost. This is a portrayal of an energetic and intrepid old lady who can pedal furiously on a bike in a car chase. When she has to stop for a rest, the two  children track down the crooks to a huge house where they find Grandpa Bert imprisoned in a glass tube, alongside lots of tubes containing other ghosts. Why are they all there and can they be released? 

This is an excellent little story skilfully told by the great Malorie Blackman who includes just the right mix of humour and jeopardy. I can imagine young readers racing through to find out whether Grandpa’s ghost can escape and what happens next. It is a self -contained story but I can also see how children might be inspired to continue the story themselves and write about the further adventures of Grandpa Bert as he travels with Grandma Gertie.

I loved the colourful illustrations by Melanie Demmer that are peppered throughout the book in a pleasing mix of full page spreads and smaller pictures to complement the text. This is another triumph for the publishers Barrington Stoke who always pay close attention to the aesthetic design, as this is an important factor in making children’s books desirable and accessible. 

 Karen Argent

July 2018