Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse

Name: Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse
Author: Chris Riddell

by Chris Riddell

Ages 8–11 Reading age 9 Novel Set in everyday life spookywry

Ada lives in a vast crumbling hall with a poet father and a great many ghosts. The newest is a mouse, and it has news about what is happening downstairs.

A story about children and magical creatures, spooky and wry in tone. We would put it with children of 8–11, and at a reading age of about 9 for reading alone.

Worth knowing before you buy

A death or grief

None of this makes it a bad book — often the opposite. It is here so you can decide whether it is right for your child now or in a year or two.

Part of a series

This is book 1 of the Goth Girl series, so there is more to read if it goes down well — which is worth a great deal with a reluctant reader.

Our take on this book

Ada Goth, the lonely daughter of Lord Goth, lives in the vast and gloomy Ghastly-Gorm Hall, where she befriends the ghost of a mouse and uncovers a mystery among the eccentric servants and visitors below stairs. Chris Riddell — a former Children's Laureate and one of our finest illustrators — fills every page with exquisitely detailed black-and-silver drawings, and stuffs the story with sly literary jokes for the adults reading along (Lord Goth is a nod to Lord Byron) that never get in the way of the fun for children. It is gently gothic rather than frightening: all cobwebs and comedy, with a warm heart. For a seven- to ten-year-old who likes their stories a little bit spooky and beautifully illustrated, Goth Girl is a treat — a gorgeous object as much as a book, witty and atmospheric, and the start of a handsomely produced series that particularly delights children who love to pore over pictures.