That timid little ghost, who first appeared in author/illustrator team Kay Winters and Lynn Munsinger's The Teeny Tiny Ghost, before reprising his role in Whooo's Haunting the Teeny Tiny Ghost?, returns in this third Halloween adventure, this time confronting a number of scary situations, from bullies to monster making. With the Spook and Spirit Club running a Halloween contest for best monster, the Teeny Tiny Ghost's classmates are all agog, eager to win the prize, and create the best and most monstrous creature. Our spectral hero is too frightened to complete the assignment at first, but after he ends up in the town dump, while running away from some bullies, inspiration strikes...

Like its predecessors, I found the story in The Teeny Tiny Ghost and the Monster quite sweet, and while it contained no surprises, I think many younger children will find someone with whom they can identify, in the eponymous spook. After all, contending with bullies and struggling with unwelcome school assignments are common childhood experiences. The accompanying illustrations from Munsinger, whose work I know primarily from the Tacky the Penguin books, are expressive, managing to be both heartwarming and creepy (especially around the eyes). Unsurprisingly, given the fact that I am a cat lover, the reappearance of the Teeny Tiny Ghost's two teeny tiny cats in this second book was a welcome development for me. Recommended to anyone who enjoyed the first two books about this character, as well as to those looking for Halloween fare featuring a timid hero who makes good. ( )

The Spook and Spirit Club is sponsoring a Make a Monster contest for Halloween. All the ghosts in the teeny tiny classroom are excited except for one, the teeny tiny ghost. For the teeny tiny ghost, making a monster is too scary. As the other ghosts draw their monsters and make fun of him, the teeny tiny ghost finds inspiration in an unexpected place. With the help of his two teeny tiny black cats, the teeny tiny ghost just might have a chance of entering the contest after all.

The Bottom Line: This story is for any child who has been picked on and bullied. It can be read to a class, to open up a conversation about bullying. Best for kids in grades 1 and 2.

This review also appears at the Mini Book Bytes Book Review Blog. ( )

Genre: This book is a fantasy. In the story a little ghost is made fun of by his classmates. This is the element of truth in the story because bullying is a real problem within the world. This story is a fantasy though because there is no such things as ghosts. If it were in a normal school this story would be a realistic fiction but because it is about ghosts this story is a fantasy.

Age: Intermediate

Media: Pastel

Use: 1. Use as a introduction for a Halloween unit 2. After Reading Have students write about how they feel about bullying ( )