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The Ghost Catcher
In this Bengali folktale, a barber uses his wits and his trusty mirror to outsmart some scary, but unintelligent ghosts.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published December 19, 2007
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69 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 20, 2020
Featured in grandma reads session.
In this Bengali folktale a barber travels from home in order to find strangers who may need his barbering services. (His wife has sent him off because when he does his work at home, he is overgenerous and ends out giving his services rather than charging, and as a result he has no money for his family to buy food.) At night the barber settles down under a banyan tree to sleep, but he is accosted by a belligerent ghost who makes demands. The barber proves clever and eventually outwits the ghost and managers other mischief that arises.
My crew enjoyed the diversity - the story was a Bengali folktale, and the illustrations used Bengali symbols and styles.
3 stars
In this Bengali folktale a barber travels from home in order to find strangers who may need his barbering services. (His wife has sent him off because when he does his work at home, he is overgenerous and ends out giving his services rather than charging, and as a result he has no money for his family to buy food.) At night the barber settles down under a banyan tree to sleep, but he is accosted by a belligerent ghost who makes demands. The barber proves clever and eventually outwits the ghost and managers other mischief that arises.
My crew enjoyed the diversity - the story was a Bengali folktale, and the illustrations used Bengali symbols and styles.
3 stars
October 1, 2012
Love the color and the flat bright illustrations and the expressions on the barber's face. I also love the indications that this tale is not set in the distant past but rather a 20th-century India with eyeglasses and trains. And thank you authors for citing your sources! Great, fun story. I will have to remember this for retelling at school visits...I could make a couple of ghost faces and have some kids from the audience be the ghosts, while I carried a mirror and told the tale...
March 10, 2022
The Ghost Catcher: A Bengali Folktale- Martha Hamilton, Mitch Weiss, Illustrator- Kristen Balouch- Children’s Illustrated Colour Picture Book- This book narrates the story of a Bengali Barber. While dressing customer’s hair, this barber listens to their stories. If the stories are interesting, he does not charge money. If the customer is poor, he does not charge fees. Barber’s wife is angry with him because he comes home without money. His wife informs him that from tomorrow onwards if does not have money, he should not return home. Next day, the barber travels to another village where people do not know him so that he may serve them and charge fees. Other village is quite far away. During night, the barber sleeps under a barber settles down under a banyan tree to sleep, but he is accosted by a belligerent ghost who makes demands. The barber maintains his poise, he is not afraid and tackles him confidently. With the help of his mirror, he convinces the ghost that he can catch him and arrest him in his bag. First the ghost and then his uncle fall prey. The barber is able to collect and gold coins, a barn to keep rice and rice from them. Later, husband and wife live peacefully. Coloured illustrations help the reader to relate to the story. I have the Hindi language translation of this book.
August 30, 2011
A funny story about a barber from Bengal who is generous to a fault. When a ghost tries to eat him, the barber has to think fast. Both the folk tale and the illustrations make this book a fun story.
December 1, 2019
Summary:
This story is a Bengali folktale suitable for grades 2 or under, though it can be used for older students if they are EL.
The main character of the story is a kind and generous barber who is so giving that his family doesn’t have enough to eat. The barber’s wife asks him to earn money in the next village so he embarks on a journey. While he was sleeping under a tree, he met a ghost. Even though the ghost tries to scare him, the barber keeps calm and tricks the ghost into thinking that he is a ghost catcher. Eventually the barber obtains food and money from the ghost in return for letting the ghost free. While the ghost moves food into the barber’s house, his uncle (also a ghost) comes and tries to convince the ghost that he was tricked. But the uncle also gets tricked by the barber. In the end, the barber lives an abundant life.
Ideas:
This folktale is relatively short and rather humorous. Many folktales from India and Bengal are about farmers or other ordinary people. It can be used to introduce the culture and lives of Bengali people. Barbers in Bengal actually tend to know a large amount of people because they travel from one village to the next to cut hair for people. They socialize and get to know people in town through their jobs. This trend is likely unfamiliar to students who reside in the U.S. because they are used to going to barbers rather than barbers coming to them.
I hope to use this book as part of a folktale unit where we study various folktales from different parts of the world. I will select short folktales just like this one so that we will be able get through a larger variety of stories. Students will write short summaries of each story and what they learned about other cultures.
I also want students to do an extension project where they invent a folktale of their own based on the ones we have read. They can also rewrite a folktale from their own traditions if they would like. Students can select to illustrate their stories with smaller quantities of writing depending on their English proficiency levels.
Why WOW?
Even though this folktale is quite simple, it presents an unlikely protagonist who is not only kind, but clever to trick a ghost. Instead of using the ghost’s powers to obtain status and riches, the barber just wants enough to feed his family and live a comfortable life. He also shares his riches with others which is a commendable trait. I also enjoyed the art and cultural knowledge presented in this book.
This story is a Bengali folktale suitable for grades 2 or under, though it can be used for older students if they are EL.
The main character of the story is a kind and generous barber who is so giving that his family doesn’t have enough to eat. The barber’s wife asks him to earn money in the next village so he embarks on a journey. While he was sleeping under a tree, he met a ghost. Even though the ghost tries to scare him, the barber keeps calm and tricks the ghost into thinking that he is a ghost catcher. Eventually the barber obtains food and money from the ghost in return for letting the ghost free. While the ghost moves food into the barber’s house, his uncle (also a ghost) comes and tries to convince the ghost that he was tricked. But the uncle also gets tricked by the barber. In the end, the barber lives an abundant life.
Ideas:
This folktale is relatively short and rather humorous. Many folktales from India and Bengal are about farmers or other ordinary people. It can be used to introduce the culture and lives of Bengali people. Barbers in Bengal actually tend to know a large amount of people because they travel from one village to the next to cut hair for people. They socialize and get to know people in town through their jobs. This trend is likely unfamiliar to students who reside in the U.S. because they are used to going to barbers rather than barbers coming to them.
I hope to use this book as part of a folktale unit where we study various folktales from different parts of the world. I will select short folktales just like this one so that we will be able get through a larger variety of stories. Students will write short summaries of each story and what they learned about other cultures.
I also want students to do an extension project where they invent a folktale of their own based on the ones we have read. They can also rewrite a folktale from their own traditions if they would like. Students can select to illustrate their stories with smaller quantities of writing depending on their English proficiency levels.
Why WOW?
Even though this folktale is quite simple, it presents an unlikely protagonist who is not only kind, but clever to trick a ghost. Instead of using the ghost’s powers to obtain status and riches, the barber just wants enough to feed his family and live a comfortable life. He also shares his riches with others which is a commendable trait. I also enjoyed the art and cultural knowledge presented in this book.
April 22, 2021
"The Ghost Catcher: A Bengali Folktale" by Martha Hamilton is a fantastic folktale which follows a generous Bengali barber as he becomes a ghost catcher one night. This books filled with colorful illustrations brings a new tale to the table for student to learn from. I love how this book integrates a often unseen culture with a tale of generosity and kindness. This book would be fantastic for grades 3-5 to an introduction a social studies lesson about Bengal or for a lesson about generosity/kindness. This book is a WOW book for me because of how simple yet engaging the tale is. I love how this tale is funny/silly but remains a tale of one mans kindness and his passion to give more.
September 26, 2017
A kind Bengali barber enjoys listening to his clients' stories; however, he refuses payment if they are woeful, resulting in a decided lack of income. His wife, while appreciative of his kindness, insists that he go away and not come back until he can provide for them. The barber meets a scary ghost but outwits him and - later - his uncle, resulting in a fortune in gold and rice. Reminiscent of Herschel and the Hannukah Goblins, but a little less scary and less complex.
November 20, 2019
4 stars. Copyright 2008. Theme of being clever. The story of a barber who is down on his luck until he tricks a ghost into believing he is a ghost catcher and forces the spirit to bring him gold coins. I would use this as an example of storytelling from a different culture.
September 27, 2021
A clever barber uses mirrors to trick an ugly ghost into building a stockpile of food so the barber's family will always be provided for.
October 24, 2021
Short and sweet!
Interesting little tale. Would have been great to get more scene setting and cultural information. Greater raconteurship would have boosted the story. Nice pictures.
Interesting little tale. Would have been great to get more scene setting and cultural information. Greater raconteurship would have boosted the story. Nice pictures.
March 20, 2025
Fun and humorous!
May 10, 2013
For once, a book about the cleverness and good-heartedness of a poor man that doesn't glorify poverty (and vilify the wife, who is somehow always the one to point out that their family needs food as well as cleverness and good hearts). The wife still does play that role in this book, but the note it ends on—"But what truly delighted him was knowing he had more than enough to share with those in need"—seems to prove that she was right, rather than implying that she should have had more faith.
Also, great illustrations.
Also, great illustrations.
June 5, 2016
your favorite part was the ghosts, of course! Especially with their multiple arms. The illustrations were simple and stunning and we loved the simple-mindedness of the ghosts. They didn't know what a mirror was, let alone what that horrifying reflection in it was, and so were terrified of the man who they thought was a ghost catcher. This allowed the simple barber to require money and favors from the ghosts, so that he could go on living a content life and giving generously to all his friends.
June 5, 2016
The illustrations were simple and stunning and we loved the simple-mindedness of the ghosts. They didn't know what a mirror was, let alone what that horrifying reflection in it was, and so were terrified of the man who they thought was a ghost catcher. This allowed the simple barber to require money and favors from the ghosts, so that he could go on living a content life and giving generously to all his friends.
December 16, 2008
Great story of compassion, generousity, and following your bliss -- with a little good-natured trickery along the way. Martha Hamilton is a storyteller and this picture lends itself well to both reading aloud and storytelling.
September 9, 2009
I love reading "fairy tales" from other cultures. They give wonderful introduction to the beliefs, customs, and social expectations of a people. The Ghost Catcher is adapted from a Bengali tale, and the illustration is lovely.
April 6, 2015
In this trickster tale, the young barber must act quickly when he is confronted by an angry ghost. Thankfully he is clever as well as kind and is able to trick both the ghost and his uncle into helping him along the way.
January 15, 2016
The retelling of a Bengali folktale.
Original sources:
"The Ghost Who Was Afraid of Being Bagged" from Folk-Tales of Bengal by Rev. Lal Behari Day (London: Macmillan, 1889) and "The Barber and the Ghost" from Indian Folklore by Ram Satya Mukharji (Calcutta: Sanyal, 1904).
Original sources:
"The Ghost Who Was Afraid of Being Bagged" from Folk-Tales of Bengal by Rev. Lal Behari Day (London: Macmillan, 1889) and "The Barber and the Ghost" from Indian Folklore by Ram Satya Mukharji (Calcutta: Sanyal, 1904).
December 20, 2008
I wasn't thrilled with the illustrations, but I enjoyed this folktale about a clever barber who outwits not one, but two ghosts and gets himself out of the doghouse with his wife!
May 16, 2008
An Indian barber tricks a nasty ghost into providing for his family. Humorous "outsmarting" tale. Good for telling.
August 11, 2017
Super cute story and super cute illustrations!
June 4, 2013
Clever ghost catcher. Gullible ghosts. Made me giggle.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews