Ladybug Nominee

Hardly Haunted by Jessie Sima  (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2021)

House has a problem. At least she thinks she does. Her hinges are squeaky. And her floorboards are creaky. And when the wind howls her shutters go clack, clack, clack. Could she be...haunted?

About Jessie Sima

Jessie Sima is an author and illustrator of picture books. They grew up in a small town in southern New Jersey and now write and draw in a creaky house in New York State. When not making books, Jessie can be found reading graphic novels, watching spooky movies, and playing outside with dogs. Jessie is the author of Not Quite Narwhal, which won the 2018 Ladybug Picture Book Award. Their website is at https://www.jessiesima.com

Activities & Links

•  Check out the publisher's activity sheet for this book at https://tinyurl.com/4h9behsc
• Learn about ghosts at https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/ghost/574605 
  
• Check out some haunted house craft ideas at https://www.pbs.org/parents/crafts-and-experiments/halloween-haunted-house and https://www.allkidsnetwork.com/crafts/halloween/haunted-house-craft.asp
  
• Find a collection of silly ghost jokes at https://www.liveabout.com/ghost-jokes-for-kids-1696085 
• Read a 2018 interview with Jessie Sima at https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/77814-in-conversation-jessie-sima-and-christian-trimmer.html 
• Learn more about Jessie's illustration process on the Let's Talk Picture Books blog at http://www.letstalkpicturebooks.com/2019/01/lets-talk-illustrators-95-jessie-sima.html

Suggestions for Further Reading

• A read-aloud of this story from the Cincinnati Museum Center: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpES1P6FTXU
• For more books about houses check out the previous Ladybug Longlist titles  at https://nhbookcenter.blogspot.com/2022/02/ladybug-longlist-houses.html and at https://nhbookcenter.blogspot.com/2023/02/ladybug-longlist-home.html
• If you want another spooky book consider Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown or Bats at the Beach by Brian Lies
  
•  If you want to read another book by Jessie Sima check out Harriet Gets Carried Away or Love, Z.
  

 

This is one of ten titles nominated for the 2023 Ladybug Picture Book Award.

We will be posting information about a different nominee each Friday throughout the summer and will issue a pdf voters guide featuring all ten titles at Labor Day.