The story is full of alliteration, repetition, verbs, adjectives and it is almost poetic in its use of language.

However, the authors depiction of what is scary is completely turned on its head in a very amusing fashion.įrom an educational point of view, the story is rich with language tools. One can’t but help laugh at the skeletons being scared of the baby especially as young children, generally speaking, are likely to think that ghosts and monsters are far scarier. Looking at this book from purely an enjoyment point of view, it is full of humour.

As they return home they are scared by a screaming baby which makes them race back and hide under the bed in the dark cellar. Their adventure lasts all night and they return home at four in the morning. The story features monster ticket collectors and real ghosts driving the train. This story revolves around an adventure undertaken by three skeletons embarking on a night time ride on a ghost train. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get my hands on that book but in searching for it at my local library I came across another one of my favourites by Allan Ahlberg which is the subject of this review. I remember first being introduced to Allan Ahlberg back in primary school when I came across the book he had produced with his wife, “The Jolly Christmas Postman” an amazing book full of creativity and excitement. This book is another opportunity to re-visit an all time favourite children’s story book of mine.

The Ghost Train by Allan Ahlberg & Andre Amstutz

The funnybones book