The hugely popular early chapter book series re-emerges with a new look! Brand-new eye-catching cover art brings a modern feel to this classic monster series for young readers. Eddie's Great-aunt Mathilda is sick and he has to help take care of her. But when Eddie and his friends visit Mathilda's house, strange things start to happen. Howie sees someone staring at him from the attic window and, when his back is turned, his garlic potato chips are used to spell the word ATTIC on the ground. During later visits the kids hear noises from the attic, but Great-aunt Mathilda swears there's nothing up there. Could the ghost of Eddie's Great-uncle Jasper, who died years ago, be haunting his aunt's home? The Bailey School kids will find out!
Debbie Dadey is the author and co-author of 162 books for children, including the Mermaid Tales series from Simon and Schuster and the beloved Adventures of The Bailey School Kids from Scholastic. Ms. Dadey is a former teacher and librarian. Please like her at Facebook.com/debbiedadey.
New lore: definitely probably ghosts are real in the Bailey City universe, the BCU if you will. A lot less plausible deniability in this one than in the others
It is a really good book, it has a good amount f twists and turns, unexpected moments, action, and mystery. I am related to Marcia Thornton Jones, I think she was a second or third cousin to me and my dad. I suggest reading this book series if you like mystery books.
The chokehold this series had on me as a kid in the late 90s and early 2000s because I was obsessed with all things spooky, weird, and macabre - though these are less of both those things than I remembered. (Also, randomly, decided to look at the date these were being written because my brother-in-law is 3 years older than me and I thought they were out of his age range when they were being published. But nope, they were being published when we would have both been too young to read them. Which is WILD to me).
Anyway, tangent aside.
This book was a little faster paced than I remembered it to be and everything was resolved really fast (I guess with like 80 pages, what's to be expected?). I think it could have written at least ten more pages. Also, Eddie was meaner than I remembered? Or maybe I'm just old now and realizing he was.
All that aside, it was a good time and there's definitely a fun "scare" factor to it - though, it's not scary for *me* (at least not anymore).
Read as part of Holly's Childhood Favoritesathon 2025. 2/????
Rated G... I read this with my 3rd Graders who are in Title I with me and they really enjoyed this book. They kept trying to predict what mystery was happening within each chapter and they were eager to get to the next page. So from their perspective, the book is a 5 star. But as an adult, I thought it was okay.
Ghosts Don’t Eat Potatoe Chips Eddie’s grandmother tells him his great aunt Matilda is sick and she wants him to take her some meals. He doesn’t see why he should have to but doesn’t argue further. So he heads out with Howie to take his aunt a casserole. Howie offers him some garlic potatoe chips but he turns down the offer. The house looks haunted and a window blows open. A gray haired woman hurries them up. Once inside the house they notice it smells. Aunt Mathilda orders them to hurry up again. She’s in her room in the bead. When Eddie comes in she says he’s the mean one. He says it must run in the family. She recognizes the chips as the ones her husband use to eat. Then she tells Howie while he’s there he can water the garden. He says Uncle Jasper was worse.
They go out to water the garden (which is really a bunch of weeds). Howie says he bets she makes weed soup and Eddie adds crab grass salad.Somethings wrong with the water but before they can investigate Aunt Mathilda yells at them to bring her a fork and a glass of water. While Howie tends to his aunt, Howie happens to glance up at the window and sees someone. Then they disappear. Howie tells Eddie that they should call the police. Eddie says it was probably just a shadow from the trees and sprays Howie with the hose. Howie goes to look for his chips but the bag is empty. He blames Eddie but Eddie reminds him he hates garlic chips. Howie then makes Eddie looks under the table and the spilled chips spell out A T T I C.
They meet up at the tree house with Melody and Lizza and Howie tells them about what he saw and the potatoe chips. Melody says it was probably Eddie’s aunt and Eddie tells her no she’s sick and lives alone. Howie says what if there’s someone in the attic. Eddie says it’s just a shadow again. Melody says it’s been cloudy all day. No sun. Howie says what if it’s someone trying to rob his aunt. They should tell the police. Or atleast her. Eddie thinks no one would want to rob her. She’s too poor. But if they want to tell her they can come with him to deliver her dinner at 7.
Omce at the house, Lizza tells them the story behind it. Three years ago, weird things started to happen there. At night, there’d be strange noises and lights coming from the attic. Things like ghostly footprints and whistling. Ghosts wander if they’re unsettled. Until things are set to rights. Lizza says maybe Howie saw a ghost. Eddie says his aunt isn’t a ghost and his aunt is too mean to die. She yells for them to hurry up and bring her food. Lizza says she’s just cranky because she’s sick. Eddie says then she’s been sick since 1942. Melody and Lizza introduce herself and are about to tell her about their theory but she says her food is cold and demands they go warm it. When they go into the hallway, they hear thumping coming from the attic. Eddie says it’s probably just rats. Only rats don’t whistle. They tell Mathilda what they heard and she says it’s just old, creaking, boards and forbids them to go up into the attic. After this, she all gives them a run for their money in poker. It’s then they notice smoke and remember they left the casserole. Aunt Mathilda comes into the kitchen then and sees she won’t be having dinner any time soon. She has to give them some money to buy her something else. She sends them to Doodle Burger. His friends leave him there to clean up but after they leave he notices the casserole dish is sparkling and the windows are open. Lizza trips on the way back and smooshes the burgers but Howie fixes them. Eddie comments on the cleaned up mess but they say it wasn’t them. Then they notice the burgers are bitten and the chips are all over the floor. Rhey just put them back on the plate and hope Eddie’s aunt doesn’t notice.
The door to the attic is open. They close it and hurry to Aunt Matilda whose yelling for her food. There’s a picture in her room and Howie says it’s the man he saw in the attic. Only Eddie says he’s dead. They talk about it under the Oak tree. Lizza says if she doesn’t know any better she’d say Jasper is a ghost and lives in the attic. They laugh but Melody says if it’s not true why were there garlic chips leading to the attic. Melody says if Eddie thinks it’s a joke he should go into the attic. He says he will and no one will stop him. Not even his aunt. They sneak over one night when Aunt Matilda is sleep. They all start to whisper Jasper’s name and it’s not long before they hear a noise coming from inside the house. At first, Lizza and Melody try to duck out but they don’t want to leave Aunt Matilda alone in the house. They hear whistling to the tune of “Yankee Doodle”. Eddie and Melody go to check on Aunt Matilda
She says she’s fine but she’s calling for Uncle Jasper. She points to the door. She says the whistling is coming from him. They suggests she go to the doctor but she says she doesn’t have any money. That’s why she has to get Jasper. Melody grabs her and puts her back in bed. Eddie calls the hospital but when the ambulance comes she fights the medics. They tell her she’ll be fine but she’d better come up with a way to pay. Eddie says she will. It looks like there’s a storm coming. They all look into the attic window and see the shadow of a man wearing a hat. Eddie says he can prove it’s no one in the attic, but the lights go out. Eddie notices a light in the attic. They can’t get out of the house. They’re locked in so they go up to the attic.
In the attic they find a trunk. Could it be a vampire inside? They open it and It’s full of old clothes. Howie says it’s the hat he saw in the window. Eddie sees something under the lining. It’smoney. SO MUCH MONEY! Eddie says he’s not giving his aunt all that money but he’s reminded by his friends how expensive the hospital stay will be. He says maybe she’ll give them a reward. They all think it’s like Uncle Jasper pointed them to the money. Now he can rest because his wrong is righted. Some of the oney is used to fix up the house and Aunt Matilda looks much better after coming home.
My Thoughts I have nothing but nice things to say for kind spirits like this one. There was a time when I was in and out of hospitals because of my illness and I KNOOOW how expensive it can be. Too even have those medics come out was probably a HUGE costs. Hospital bills are NO JOKE! If a doctor comes in your room and just stands there and says nothing you get charged for it. Back then I wish I would have had a spirit to point me in the direction of a lot of money. I was trying to think if I’d ever had garlic potatoe chips. IKR Don’t think I could forget that if I did but it just sounds like I have but I just can’t place the taste.
Rating: 7
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
So yeah I feel that this is the weakest installment of the Bailey School kids. For one thing I can't stand Eddie. I don't know why the other kids even hang out with him. He really is just such a jerk. So once again they kind of did that thing where there was no confirmation that there was a ghost but there's been like weird things happening that could mean that there's a ghost but to be honest I kind of thought that it was going to go in the direction where they're at school and they have a new School faculty member and everyone thinks that they're actually a ghost. That was what I thought was going to happen but no it's more like a traditional haunted House story where Eddie and his friends are taking food to Eddie's great aunt and everyone not including Eddie is convinced that the house is haunted by the great aunt's recently dead husband. Very cut and dry haunted house story. Also what is wrong with onion cheeseburgers? That sounds like a delicious In-N-Out Burger to me.
I remember reading The Bailey School Kids series when I was in grade school and I enjoyed all of them. I would normally buy them at my school book fair, I wanted to collect them all. I enjoyed reading this it was fast paced then I remembered. But it brought me back to when I was reading these chapter books. These are really fun and cute reads.
This was a really cute book. I read it to my 9yo son. He said it was spooky, but not scary. Just enough mystery and he liked the pictures. Great chapter book for young readers. The words aren't too difficult, but not babyish. We bought a bunch of the series at a garage sale, and I am glad that we did. This is a series I will stick with and continue to grow my children's library with.
The Bailey School Kids is a best-selling children's book series by Marcia Thornton Jones and Debbie Dadey. Its main characters are a group of four children (Eddie, Howie, Liza, Melody) who suspect some persons in the stories are popular folk lore or fairy tale characters. They are appealing because they mix a familiar story in with this group of kids. Mid-grammar school
The Bailey School Kids books are awesome! They are funny with a just hint of scary and always offer a good mystery for young readers. These books are good for children who are just beginning with chapter books as well as those who just enjoy a good mystery. I really enjoyed this book, it would be a good book to practice making predictions with.
I read this one to the children to help encourage Lj's reading. And it worked! He read the Unicorn book all by himself in the next two days and most of the reading was done without me having to ask him. Thank you Bailey School Kids!!!! Very Clever Stories :) :) :)
Meet the Bailey School Kids; aptly named in honor of the school that they attend. However, their stories are centered around the supernatural and scientific phenomena.
*Spoilers ahead*
In this episode of the anthological series, the children are sent to Eddie's home to care for his ailing great-aunt. She is suffering a cold, after the death of her husband. Eddie has a tumultuous relationship with his great-aunt and begrudgingly brings her meals by the request of his grandmother. However, when at her house, unexplained incidents occur. Burnt food cleans itself up, potato chips can spell, and mysterious shadows appear in the attic. Is this the ghost of Eddie's great-uncle, or the delusions of an old widow?
I believe that the simple structure and language of this series would appeal greatly to a younger audience between the ages of first through third grade. However, there may be some interest from older readers that are in fourth or fifth grade. There is awareness to social emotional issues and appropriately coping with these challenges in a real-world setting. In addition to this instructional use, this book would be useful to teaching basic story elements such as characters, plot, setting, and conflict to a younger audience.
I chose this book because I keep a collection of these books on my classroom bookshelf because they have a reputation for their accessibility and high appeal to younger readers. Having struggling readers with learning disabilities in my classroom makes these an asset to my classroom library.
Who knew ghost-hunting came with a side of snack confusion? “Ghosts Don’t Eat Potato Chips” taught me two very important life lessons: 1) ghosts are terrible dinner guests, and 2) if your elderly relatives are acting weird, you should probably check the attic and the pantry.
This book has everything—mystery, old people with secrets, ghostly nonsense, and exactly zero potato chip consumption by actual ghosts (false advertising, but I’ll allow it). The plot twists harder than a haunted pretzel, and I laughed out loud more than once, especially during the parts where logic took a brief vacation.
Lost one star because I still don’t understand what happened with the funeral parlor chicken.
Would recommend to kids, nostalgic 90s readers, and anyone who’s ever yelled, “Eat the chip, ghost!” at a book.
Eddie seems to get on my nerves a lot. But dealing with old grumpy sick people could be rather annoying in a way, but it's a good thing that his friends were there with him. Who knows what could have happened to his aunt if they didn't go to try to find that ghost, on yet another dare.
I liked the ending, I liked how the ghost of Eddie's great aunt had helped them help her. I wanted to smack Eddie for even thinking about taking any of that money.
And when Eddie's great aunt got better, things started to look up and she really wasn't so mean after all.
Nice little mystery, a few laughs. I really enjoyed this book.
Four kids have a big imagination in the Bailey School Kids series, a fictional series for second through fifth graders. They go on countless adventures and solve mysteries - who are the people? Are they monsters? What do they want? In this specific book, “Ghosts Don’t Eat Potato Chips (The Bailey School Kids #5),” the kids are helping out Eddie’s great-aunt, Mathilda, since she is sick. However, things are not quite as they seem. Who else is in the story but a ghost, and he wants potato chips! Written by Marcia Thornton and Debbie Dadey and illustrated by John Steven Gurney, this book was published by Scholastic in September 1992.
This book is too precious for words. It was just adorable as the first one I've read. I enjoyed the friendship between the Bailey kids as they journey together on a new discovery hunting for a particular ghost. The table of contents, the beautiful sketchings, and the vintage cover all brings back wonderful memories of wanting to read these books back in elementary. I'm so happy to finally read them now.
Author: Debbie Dadey Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery Grade level: 1-3 I was curious about the title, so I read the book to ensure it was spooky for our Halloween read-aloud story before I read it to my students. However, I was surprised that it was not only scary but also dramatic and emotional at the end. I do believe in ghosts, so I decided to read it aloud with my students and they were happy like me.
This is the perfect spooky story for kids that aren't sure about spooky stories. My 6yo and 5yo absolutely adored it. They were scared in a way that was fun, not awful. They also delighted in the side lessons that houses and healthcare are expensive. After reading this they were hungry for more scary stories and super engaged in their own creative play.
Another delightful book from the Bailey School Kids! Unlike my previous reads, this doesn't involve a normal adult who may or may not be a monster. In this story, Eddie's stuck taking care of his ailing aunt, and the friends think her husband, Jasper, might be sticking around. It was a fun little read, clever plotting, and well-done. I had a lot of fun with this one!
finally pulled it back off the shelf and finished it. ending was kind of a let down . too many unanswered questions. the build up was intriguing and held the kids' attention, but then suddenly it was over
I hope this is not a cheat by putting this into my shelf labeled as read, because it is just less than 100 pages and it is really so small. Anyway it is so good a story that I can’t wait a little longer to finish it to figure out what happens which my 12 years old son refuse to be a spoiler.
Series: A group of young friends are convinced that a ghost is haunting an old aunts house when they notice that there are potato chip crumbs. Mystery book.