Sarah's Little Ghosts

by Thierry Robberecht, Philippe Goossens (Illustrator)

When Sarah breaks her mother's favorite necklace, she lies to cover it up. But the lie isn't the only thing that comes out of her mouth. A little ghost pops out, too! And for every new lie Sarah tells, another ghost appears. There seems to be only one way to get rid of them, but which is living in your own haunted house, or telling the truth? Brightly colored, funny illustrations bring this unique tale about an all-too-common problem to life in a way that young children can understand and relate to.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

29 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Guilherme Semionato · Rating 3 out of 5]

If it wasn't so pedagogical and instructive (a book about lying to your parents) it'd be marvellous.

[Monster]

When Sarah breaks her mother’s necklace, her first instinct is to hide it and pretend nothing is wrong. But as soon as the first lie passes her lips, a little ghost pops out of her mouth and starts chanting the words she really ought to say- “I broke your necklace”! Only Sarah can hear and see the ghost, but its mere presence gets in the way of her relationship with her parents. With each lie, another ghost pops out of her mouth, Soon she’s being chased by a horde of chanting, singing ghosts.
The ghosts in Phillipe Goosens’ illustrations don’t look threatening at all. They’re small, cute, and harmless-looking. Seeing them in a cloud around Sarah, though, it hits home that even little lies add up to a lot of misery. While this isn’t a particularly spooky story, the idea of lies literally catching up with them will give the K-3 crowd the creeps, and the unscary representations of ghosts are likely to cause a few giggles as well. Recommended.
Review by Kirsten Kowalewski

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have a young one being dishonest? This little book uses little ghosts that pop up in the event of being scared to tell the truth where they haunt our main character until she finally is able to tell the truth and discovers magic words to to make the ghosts disappear.

[Christina Karvounis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent for teaching young ones the haunting qualities of lies.

[Savannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book taught an important lesson about telling the truth and dealing with a guilty conscience. In the story, a little girl named Sarah broke her mother's favorite necklace and doesn't tell her. However, little ghosts that shout out the truth show up and keep Sarah from her daily routine. Eventually Sarah tells the truth, and is so relieved when she does, because all of the little ghosts go away and she feels so much better. this book taught a very important lesson in a simple way that was age-appropriate for elementary students. I enjoyed the book and it's illustrations, and I'm positive that students would too.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this was a story about Halloween, but found it really is about telling the truth and dealing with one’s conscience. The ‘ghosts’ which appear are nudges to the little girl Sarah to tell the truth. She has some trouble telling about an accident breaking something, so little ghosts appear urging her to tell the real story. It would make an interesting conversation, yet I wonder about the concreteness of students and seeing ghosts as some kind of strange punishment. I’m not sure I like the idea. The illustrations are not scary, which helps.

[Veronica]

I'm working on creating a booklist for my local public library. This book was one in consideration for this list.

This will be going on my list. It's perfect in every way. It's covers the problems with keeping secrets, doing the wrong thing, and telling the truth. It's a wonderful book to teach about lying and truth, without being hit over the head.

I loved the illustrations and the storyline. Another great addition to my list.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

a book to help with lying

[Randall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the ghosts and she told the truth to fix the necklase.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

great little take on lying

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book about lying.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this little story about telling the truth/keeping secrets! I think it is a brilliant way to illustrate the emotional and mental commotion caused by lies. This book is one I must own!

[☆Maggie☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Sarah's Little Ghosts" provides a unique story to deliver a lesson about lying. I enjoyed the creative idea and message of the book, but the story was just OK.

[Jessica Peters · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book for lessons on lying and/or good secrets versus bad secrets.