The Great Ghost Rescue

Written by Eva Ibbotson

Narrated by Prunella Scales

Instead of being ghastly and skeletal as a bloodcurlingly fearsome ghost, he's pink and fluffy, like a summer cloud. He longs to be like his brother, who's a Screaming Skull. Or his father, who has stumps for legs and a sword through his chest. Or even his cousins who are vampire bats. Poor Humphrey, though, can't scare anyone. But when the ghosts are in danger, it's clever Humphrey who comes up with a rescue plan...

• Language: English
• Publisher: W. F. Howes Ltd
• Release date: Jun 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9781471293849

Eva Ibbotson

Eva Ibbotson was born in Vienna in 1925 and moved to England with her father when the Nazis came into power. Ibbotson wrote more than twenty books for children and young adults, many of which garnered nominations for major awards for children's literature in the UK, including the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize and the Whitbread Prize. Eva's critically acclaimed Journey to the River Sea won the Smarties Gold Medal in 2001. Set in the Amazon, it was written in honour of her deceased husband Alan, a former naturalist. Imaginative and humorous, Eva's books often convey her love of nature, in particular the Austrian countryside, which is evident in works such as The Star Of Kazan and A Song For Summer. Eva passed away at her home in Newcastle on October 20th 2010. Her final book, One Dog and His Boy, was published in May 2011.

Reviews for The Great Ghost Rescue

[chazzifrazz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Something terrible is happening! Ghosts everywhere in are losing their homes. Dark and damp castles, swampy areas under bridges, cold and dark wells and neglected attics are all being renovated into cheery, touristy areas. Where are the ghosts to go?Humphrey and his family are on the search for a new home. Along the way they take refuge in the dormitory of a boys' school. Being invisible, they think they are safe, but there is a small problem and that is Humphrey. It seems that he can't go completely invisible...his elbow just doesn't quite disappear. When Rick sees a cobwebby bit on end of his bed, he reaches for it and discovers it isn't really there. But his touch wakes Humphrey up and Humphrey becomes visible! Rick is delighted to make the acquaintance of a ghost, and Humphrey is happy to find someone to explain the trouble his family is in. Between the two of them they come up with a plan to create a sanctuary for all ghosts.When one is found and all looks well, it is discovered that it is an even worse situation that the ghosts are now in! Will Rick the Rescuer be able to help the ghosts again?This was a fun read. The ghosts all have their strange personalities, but they are all like one big family in their concern for each other. Rick is a determined boy and concerned that his friends need help.

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Fun, just a little didactic, best for actual children rather than young-at-heart adults.

[mstrust · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The crumbling, abandoned castles of Great Britain are being sold and turned into hotels and other things for the living, which leaves the ghosts who haunt them sick and homeless. When a family of ghosts have to flee their castle to find somewhere more remote, they find Rick, a little boarding school boy who determines to help them by presenting their case to the Prime Minister.

[bryndahlquis · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A pretty fun little ghost adventure which is extremely similar to her other ghost adventure, Dial-A-Ghost (which was written almost twenty years after this one, oddly).I would not hesitate to give this to a younger reader. It's full of adventure and terror and friendship. Lots of pleasantly disgusting descriptions of ghosts and monsters, which young readers seem to enjoy so much.While it has all that, it's not particularly special or particularly memorable. It's fun and interesting and enjoyable, but when it comes down to it, it's just so-so.

[the_hag · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If the Addams family had been ghosts...well, this might have been what they were like! We start out here with a "family" of ghosts living in an old castle...the mother, a hag looking, well, like a hag and smelling of the worst things (always changing to suite her moods, naturally); the father, a Gliding Kilt (legs lost in a battle); their son, the screaming skull (and boy can he scream); their daughter (a wailing ghost); their second son, Humphrey the Horrible...who it turns out is less horrible than he and his family would really like and of course Aunt Hortensia with her phantom coach and missing head! As it turns out, ghosts all over the world are being turned out of their dark, dank, horribly perfect homes by...PROGRESS. Human's, the living, are doing what we always do...paving over, knocking down, renovating, and making things livable for US. Unfortunately for the ghosts this is very, very bad! In fact, it's downright harmful. Our family of intrepid ghosts is ousted from their home to make way for a resort...quite revolting a development for these horrible haunts! On the move, our hauntless family meet up with Rick at a brief stop over at a boarding school, who with the help of his super smart friend Barbara determined what needs to be done to right the ghost's homeless situation. A short time later, the ghosts (and Rick) are off to London to meet with their member of Parliament to set up a Ghost Sanctuary. This story is all about their adventure to London, what they have to do to get in to see the Prime Minister, where the ghost wind up...and there is even a twist at the end...just when you think all is going to turn out splendidly! This story manages to tie together grossness, creepy settings, morbid details, humor and family values into one romping good adventure that even manages to include a message about being yourself and accepting who you are. The Great Ghost Rescue is great for young readers who have made the transition to chapter books but still need a relatively simple plot and minimal drawings (there are a number of black and white/pen & ink drawings to bring some additional life to the story...heh). I know when my daughter made the transition to longer chapter books, she needed one's that were both entertaining but with minimal plot twists so that she could read the words AND get to enjoy the story...this book allows for that in spades. Aimed at ages 9-12, I'd say ages 8-10 would probably enjoy it most as the plot and writing style might be too simple for older readers to find engaging. I rate this at four stars, it's just the right blend of gross details (given a humorous twist), morbid bent, a bit of mystery and a liberal dash of adventure that is perfectly engaging for young readers!!