Published by Beaming Books on August 27, 2024
Genres: Children's
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If you're a fraidy-ghost, enjoying Halloween is hard!
When Finn is afraid, his stomach swoops, his hands sweat, and he can't move.
Finn, a spooky little ghostie, is too afraid to leave the comfort of his attic to enjoy trick-or-treating with his family. He's afraid of everything--the color orange, trees, people, even flying! But then he realizes that if he wants his favorite Halloween candy, he'll need to overcome his fears. Through incremental exposures to the things he's afraid of, Finn finds courage to do things he enjoys with the people he loves.
Perfect for spooky season, this debut picture book from artist Nadia Ahmed is sure to inspire readers to find the courage to overcome their own fears.
A 2025 Winner of the Young People's Literature Award from The Friends of American Writers
Finn is a ghost. And he is scared of everything. His ghost family wants to go trick-or-treating, but Finn isn’t sure he can go out. Humans are scary. Butterflies are scary. The color orange? Very scary. He doesn’t know why. He doesn’t want them to be. But they just are. Finn’s family loves him. They accept him. They don’t belittle him for his fears and bring him back candy every Halloween. But this year Finn determines he’s going to face his fears. Will it work?
The Ghost Who Was Afraid of Everything is a story about making incremental changes in order to brave one’s fears. Really, what the book describes is exposure therapy: a type of cognitive behavioral therapy that gradually exposes folks with phobia, anxiety, or PTSD to their fears in a safe and controlled fashion. While Finn’s exploration isn’t exactly under the care of a doctor (do ghosts have doctors?), it does represent well the graduality of facing fears rather than taking a shock-and-awe sink-or-swim approach. It’s an encouraging exhortation to young ones to work with trusted loved ones to face and overcome their fears.
The joke of the book—a ghost who is scared of everything—is perfect for its intended age group. The illustrations are playful and fun. Finn’s humanness and ghostliness intersect in odd ways. He’s ghost enough that the book is silly; human enough that young readers can relate themselves to Finn’s circumstances. My only criticism is that the book ends a bit abruptly (but with a nice artistic color choice!).