This was a beautifully illustrated Halloween themed book for our younger readers.
There isn’t much to the story so much, but it is told in why me and flows quite nicely.
But the star here is clearly the beautiful illustration and that alone makes it worth the read!

This book is outstanding in every way! The illustrations are top-notch and the story resonates in a sweet way. Recommended for all ages.

This one was really sweet and fun. The lines were so fantastic and the ending was really good. It was a fun halloween read.

A very sweet Halloween story of a sad ghost. The illustrations was beautiful! Great timing for the Fall season too.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my free copy in exchange for my review.

I am always looking to add holiday books to my elementary school library. This is a sweetly illustrated story of a sad ghost. The ghost is seemingly adult sized and some of the depictions (visiting their own grave) are unusual for a children's book. An unseen narrator keeps asking "Why do you cry, Sad Ghost?" and there are various rhyming replies. It is geared towards younger readers (K-3) and I could read it to all ages in my library. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The illustrations are great in this Halloween book for children. I gave it 3 stars because I feel the book is written for younger children but I feel the story has a few areas that may not be appropriate for all children. Not all parents would want the Ghost having a party and the Monster drinking out of a bottle. My other concern was the discussion of death, about the bones. Most children haven’t had to deal with death, even after covid. If they have, we don’t want to remind them. Otherwise I loved the book!

Thanks NetGalley and Celia Jones for the opportunity to read this cute Halloween book!

I really enjoyed this sweet Halloween story. I liked looking for the little mouse on each page to see where he was hanging out, and the flow of the story was just right. I think it has lovely illustrations, and the story is one that will appeal to children of all ages.

This book has a Halloween theme that is written in rhyme. Sad Ghost floats from room to room in his house continually in tears. The book was inspired by the author's love for Halloween and by a precious family Halloween figurine.

The illustrations are colourful and full of detail and expression. A little mouse is embedded in each page. Kids will love to play search-and-find for him.

I must admit I wasn't completely taken by the storyline and I think kids will find it hard to engage in. The rhythm was off and some of the ideas offered as to why Sad Ghost was sad were strange. It was hard to grasp the whole point of the book after a read through. I am sure kids will love the fun whimsical visuals that are not overly spooky just as I did.

Why Do You Cry, Sad Ghost is an adorable debut story by Celia Jones. Great for lovers of Halloween, ghosts, kids stories, and anything spooky.

3.5 Stars
The best part about the book is the illustrations. There really isn’t any story here. A mouse asks a sad ghost why it’s sad, and the ghost has an answer for everything. The final reveal leads to Halloween, which the ghost loves the most.
If you want a cute mindless book that’s more like an introduction to ghosts’ lives, this would your pick. If you want a moral or a lesson for the kids, you’ll need to find something else.
Focus more on the illustrations as they are the life of the book. The detailing is quite good and eye-catchy.
Thank you, NetGalley, Reginetta Press, and BookBuzz.net, for the ARC.

Sorry, but I didn't like this book at all. It seemed to have no point except for the obvious: that the ghost is longing for Halloween. From the style of the text and illustrations, it seems to be aimed at early readers, especially with its rhythmic verse. But many of the rhymes are forced and don't make contextual sense.
"Is it because your complexion is pale"
"No, my complexion has always been frail."
Not only does 'frail' not suit a complexion, the two words are too difficult for an early reader to comprehend. There are many more such examples in the book.
There is an illustration of a man who is chugging away alcohol. There is a reference to the ghost's body being buried deep underground.
I do not wish to leave a scathing review for this on any site, so my only feedback for this book will be on NetGalley.

If you've read any of my other recent book reviews, you will already know that every book I read starts off with the full 5 stars and that I always hope it'll finish with 'em all still in place too.

I'm taking a risk with this book 'cos ghost books usually give me nightmares for several days afterwards, but as this is a picture book and the ghost on the front looks like a cartoon and I'm reading it in the afternoon instead of close to bed time, I'm hoping I'll get away with it this time ;-)

I've been OK with the first two pages... I'm wondering about the word choice of "complexion" though, 'cos a small child wouldn't have even heard the word before, let alone know what it meant and might have to interrupt the person reading it to find out, so it's a wobbly star already unfortunately, just not for the reason I was thinking is all.

The author has used complexion again on the next page, along with another new word, frail, that small children wouldn't have a clue about either... the star is currently clinging on by the tips of it's fingers.

Not sure I approve of the image on page 3 - the way that the adult male is chugging from a bottle makes me think it's a bottle of alcohol and the character drinking it is drunk... not a good image for a child unfortunately. A second star is wobbly now.

Now the author has chosen a third word that such small children wouldn't understand, so that's the first star gone.

"Utmost" is used on the next page... I realise that the author is trying to introduce new words, but using four new words in four pages is a bit much, especially as there's no explanation of what each of the words mean within the book!

Now we've got the image of a man in his undies, a can on the floor, bottle on the table and a bowl of popcorn which is screaming alcoholic to me unfortunately. Like with the words, the images have one more chance otherwise the second star is coming off.

Just finished reading the book and thankfully there weren't any more inappropriate images for such a young audience, so the book finishes with four stars... it's like the author has been desperate to find rhyming words and those words and images have been too advanced for such a young audience.

It's a good book, but at 40 pages long (the industry standard, in the UK at least, is either 28 or 32 pages), the word choices and a couple of the illustrations, are just not appropriate for a Picture Book unfortunately.

Perfect for this Halloween!

I am so impressed with everything about this book!

It feels like we are reading a really good graphic novel. The artstyle is outstanding. Absofreakinglutely love it!

Kudos to the artist.

And yes, the whole book is so much fun to read.

There's a pang of nostalgia and solitude to it. Yet a pretty good one.

Thank you, author/artist and the publisher for the ARC.

What a whimsy Halloween rhyme picture book for tiny humans. With pop culture reference in the beautiful illustrations and the quirky rhymes, this was a short, fast and yet, adorable read. Perfect to get your tiny ghouls ready for the Spooky Season.

With imaginative illustrations and beguiling rhyme, we follow Sad Ghost on his quest to discover the reason for his lament. Each illustration is a story in and of itself. From a candy corn rug, to haunting silhouettes, there are small touches here that speak to Jones’s attention to detail and perceptive mind. This is a book to be treasured that will appeal to adults and children alike. This is worthy of being a Halloween classic.

This book is adorable, with pictures that have quirky details that a child would be delighted to find. It would also be good for teaching rhymes if you do plan to use it in an educational capacity. It's a bit too young for the students I teach, so I wouldn't be using it in my classroom. Could be cute with younger kids.

Honestly I wasn't a fan. The rhythm seemed off and it was just weird, and not in the way I normally love. There didn't seem to be much point to the book, though some of the illustrations were fun

It's spooky season (almost)!. Why do you Cry, Sad Ghost? Is a children's book with an unidentified narrator asking the sad ghost why it's sad. The words are written in rhyme which will likely appeal to children. The illustrations are fun and don't shy away from being more on the scary side which will appeal to the people reading this book to children. Overall it was cute.

Not too bad at all, this interesting attempt at a rhymed picture book kind of saddles itself with being about a particular 'holiday'. Without giving the game away, the verse is a (well-constructed) dialogue between a questioner and a sad ghost, as we attempt to find out what makes it so glum. Those are questions that, if the final answer were different, could be asked every time of the year, but no – this is set upon celebrating one occasion in particular. As such it might have limited its appeal. It's certainly not terrible – three and a half stars.

What a truly special book! One of the best children's books I have seen, undoubtedly! I adored the gentle rhyme and the momentum of the story, as the unseen narrator queries the "sad ghost" protagonist as to why it is sad. You can just hear its resignation to sadness as it responds to each query, and then its awakened delight at the end. The illustrations are endearing and so is the text. I shared the ARC with my 9-year-old granddaughter who also enjoyed it.