The first book in this cute series about Gus the Ghost -- Gus Was a Friendly Ghost -- was my all time favorite book as a young child. I made my parents and siblings read it so many times I'm sure they had it memorized. When I could read by myself, I still loved it. The story was great...and the illustrations were fabulous. Imagine my surprise when I discovered recently that Gus had 7 other stories! I had no idea that my favorite children's book was just book one in a series! I immediately set out on a mission to find and read the entire series.

Gus Was a Christmas Ghost is the 3rd book of 8. The house Gus lives in has been turned into a history museum. He loves it there and enjoys all the displays....candlesticks, a harp, oil lamps, a grandfather clock, etc. The curator of the museum, Mr. Frizzle, is a bit cranky. And he doesn't like ghosts. He's always crabbing about Gus. Then, Mr. Frizzle leaves to spend Christmas in Florida. So Gus and his friends, Mouse and Cora the Cat decide to have an old fashioned Christmas while the old crank pot is away. :)

This story is so sweet and fun! The illustrations are by Seymour Fleishman. I always loved his artwork best of all....so the pictures made me smile. :) These are perfect books to read to small children. The stories are sweet and the illustrations are colorful and cute. I'm so happy Gus got more stories! I'm definitely going to have to find copies of the entire series for my keeper shelf. I always have a copy of Gus Was a Friendly Ghost. So far, the entire series is just as good! So I will just have to have them all. :)

Jane Thayer is a pen name for Catherine Woolley. She wrote many books for children including The Horse With the Easter Bonnet and The Popcorn Dragon. ( )