Note: I received a digital galley through NetGalley. ( )

Bob's Hungry Ghost by Geneviève Côté is the story of a boy who gets a ghost instead of a puppy for his birthday. Here is yet another book about a child and a "pet" that isn't a pet. These pets can be inanimate objects, like a book [link to My Pet Book], a mechanical one [link to Clink], a mislabled one, or a dead one. For the pets that aren't even alive, the pet "owners" fail to treat them like living pets and pay the consequences of their "foolishness."

So here's Bob, all prepared for a puppy and he gets a ghost instead. Sure, the ghost looks cute but come on, it's not a puppy. If you've been preparing for a puppy and getting your home ready for one, a ghost just isn't even in the same book as a puppy. Maybe, I suppose, it could be, if it were a ghost puppy. In Bob's case, it's a ghost of indeterminate origin and shape.

It's one thing to ignore a puppy, but a ghost? It's not like he's actively trying to exorcise it, or even antagonize it. But Bob's ghost decides to go poltergeist. Sure, pet books are a great way to teach children the importance of taking good care of their pets before even becoming pet owners.

But is Bob's Hungry Ghost about pet care or becoming a Hunter a la Sam and Dean Winchester? ( )

A fun story that teaches children that while they may not always get exactly what they want, the alternative can be just as good, if not better, than the original desire. A good read for Halloween especially.

I would recommend this book for reading but not for teaching a lesson. It is mostly a silly book that young readers would consider fun to read or listen to. The pictures are well done, so young children might be able to understand the story without reading it at all.

The art in this book was simple, but in a way that can be charming in a children's book. I thought the story was just okay. If you are overly critical of subtextual ideas in children's literature, you might find some of the associations made between binge-eating and emotional distress a little problematic. If you don't think children tend to over-analyze things like that, then the story is just a goof. I wouldn't recommend it for any awards, but it was definitely not terrible. ( )