"The Blue Ghost (2005) is the first of Marion Dane Bauer's four emerging reader paranormal chapter books and is in my opinion geared towards and as such also most suited for young readers (especially girls) from about the age of six to eight or nine (with the series stories titled The Blue Ghost, The Red Ghost, The Green Ghost, The Golden Ghost and with each obviously having a colour both in the title and also within the featured texts in so far that the experiences related by Dane Bauer very specifically present spirits appearing in blue, red, green and golden hues). And because the four books are standalones, they also do not need to be perused in order of publication and that what Marion Dane Bauer for example relates in The Blue Ghost actually has nothing to do with and has no bearing on either The Red Ghost or on The Green Ghost and of course also vice versa (but just to point out that I have not yet read The Golden Ghost although I am of course planning to do so).

In The Blue Ghost main protagonist and nine-year-old Liz (but her full name is of course Elizabeth) is shown by Dane Bauer going for the first time with her grandmother to the family log cabin in the woods of northern Minnesota (and actually for the first and for the last time, since Liz is helping her grandmother gather up what she wants to take along with her to her house in the city as the log cabin is being sold). And yes, I do have to say that in The Blue Ghost, while Liz's words are definitely suitable for a nine-year-old, her behaviour as described by Marion Dane Bauer occasionally does tend to feel somewhat too mature and almost like how an eleven or twelve year old would likely be acting (not a huge deal, but something definitely just a trifle noticeable). And because The Blue Ghost shows that Liz's ancestors (and many of whom have also like her been named Elizabeth) have owned and lived in that log cabin for about 150 years, when a blueish and glowing ghost clad in 19th century attire appears in Liz's bedroom calling for Elizabeth, Liz of course and naturally at first assumes that the summons is not meant for her but for one of the prior owners of that name (for Liz' great-grandmother, her grandmother or her mother).

However, when in The Blue Ghost Liz is shown by Dane Bauer becoming increasingly curious about the blue ghost which keeps appearing in her bedroom and calling, and with Liz finally deciding that she needs to follow the beckoning blueish apparition through an interior wall (as there is something about the ghost that is anxious and seemingly also requiring help and support), Liz actually travels back in time to help the first Elizabeth of her family cure her baby brother from a severe and potentially deadly case of the croup by finding the blue ghost's (Elizabeth's deceased mother's) book of remedies and following the directions regarding how to deal with croup, thereby saving Matthew's life and of course also his future as a college mathematics professor, but that the first Elizabeth is also encouraged by Liz knowing how to read to learn to read as well and that Elizabeth in fact ends up becoming a physician at a time when this was still majorly rare for women. And yes, at the end of The Blue Ghost (and once again in the present), Liz shares her experiences with her grandmother, who admits to also having seen the blue ghost when she was a girl (but that Liz' grandmother unlike her granddaughter never followed the blue ghost into the past).

Now The Blue Ghost is tightly written and also pretty spare on textual details (which my adult reading self kind of finds a wee bit frustrating as she wants and even needs more of a backstory and also more contemporary details but which for my inner eight year old and recently independent reader has neither been noticed nor therefore been in any way problematic either) and that Marion Dare Bauer with The Blue Ghost offers to her readers a pleasantly eerie ambience infused with the combined thrills of both solving a mystery and also helping someone in need (and with Dare Bauer's narrative for The Blue Ghost equally and thankfully so never being either contents-wise or stylistically overly creepy, never being violent and never with unfriendly or with evil paranormal experiences to be encountered either, that the blue ghost of the book title is entirely friendly, is simply an apparition needing and asking for help and with Liz' experiences going back in time changing the past in order to rectify and make positive the present). And indeed, it is equally textually lovely how Liz and her grandmother share a comfortable camaraderie in The Blue Ghost (without an adults above children mentality, without any strict rules, regulations, dictates, without "my way or the highway" attitudes) and which allows young Liz to recognise her own importance in the family chain, not just as a so-called guardian angel and protector who steps in to help her ancestors from long gone but also as her grandmother's friend and companion while the older woman packs up her personal items and mementos while she prepares the family's log cabin for sale.

And finally, rating The Blue Ghost from how my above mentioned inner eight year old reader has enjoyed the story, yes the combination of Marion Dare Bauer's words and Suling Wang's black-and-white illustrations is solidly four stars. And that while Wang's artwork for The Blue Ghost is perhaps a bit visually bland, it also does therefore never visually distract from Dare Bauer's text and as such works very well providing a nice but never aesthetically interfering or overpowering decorative trim for The Blue Ghost and especially so since Suling Wang's pictures of a very kind-eyed and totally unfrightening blue ghost also helps to keep the mood and the ambience of The Blue Ghost from in any manner becoming scary and/or too uncanny (and which is in particular appreciated since Marion Dane Bauer's intended audience for The Blue Ghost are young and recently independently reading children and that for me, making ghost stories really scary for eight to ten year olds is not really something I would find appropriate).

Oh and by the way, the book cover image for The Blue Ghost unfortunately makes the ghost of Elizabeth appear considerably freakier than how she is both verbally presented by Marion Dane Bauer and illustrated by Suling Wang (so please do not judge The Blue Ghost by its cover, as neither the text nor the images of the blue ghost are in any way creepy or frightening)."

"The Green Ghost (2008) is the third of Marion Dane Bauer's four emerging reader paranormal chapter books and is in my opinion geared towards and as such also most suited for young readers (especially girls) from about the age of six to eight or nine (with the series stories titled The Blue Ghost, The Red Ghost, The Green Ghost, The Golden Ghost and with each obviously having a colour both in the title and also within the featured texts in so far that the scenarios related by Dane Bauer very specifically present spirits appearing in blue, red, green and golden hues). And because the four books are standalones, they thus also and of course do not need to be perused in order of publication and that what Marion Dane Bauer for example relates in The Green Ghost actually has nothing to do with and has no bearing on either The Blue Ghost or on The Red Ghost and of course also vice versa (but just to point out that I have not yet read The Golden Ghost although I am of course planning on doing so).

So for The Green Ghost Dane Bauer's featured plot presents a textually delightful and enchanting winter and Christmas themed ghost story, an easy reading and simple Yuletide themed paranormal tale without any eeriness and horror, but also with some emotional richness, potential and actual heartbreak as well as avoidable and problematic dangers to point out, to discuss, to consider with the intended audience (such as in particular how in the parts of The Green Ghost which Marion Dane Bauer has taking place in 1938, Lillian venturing outside in the snow with her younger sister Elsa and to keep on and on searching for a "perfect" Christmas tree in the cold of winter is rather foolish, is hugely dangerous and pretty much a tragedy waiting to happen), with The Green Ghost also featuring in Lillian a friendly, delightfully helpful ghost girl (and with my inner eight year old reader absolutely adoring everything about The Green Ghost even if parts of the story do make me want to cry and actually and indeed did make me cry).

And yes, Dane Bauer with The Green Ghost manages to textually very nicely weave a mildly suspenseful (and also rather magical) winter themed ghost story told in alternating time frames, and with Lillian's ghost in the present being shown by Marion Dane Bauer as guiding Kaye and her parents to the farm where Lillian's sister Elsa still lives when the family car breaks down during a snowstorm (on their way to visit Kaye's grandmother for Christmas), that The Green Ghost presents a simple and basic but also emotional story, where Lillian's glowing and friendly spirit not only helps out Kaye's family but also provides major and appreciated closure for Elsa (but equally for herself as well) and as such in The Green Ghost, Lillian's spirit (and Kaye telling Elsa about her encounter with Lillian) equally then encourages Elsa to leave the farm, to accompany Kaye and her parents, to spend Christmas not alone (like usual) but with Kaye, Kaye's parents and with the grandmother they were on their way to visit when their car went off the road during that snowstorm.

Finally, although I do not think that The Green Ghost actually requires accompanying illustrations, Peter Ferguson's realistic black-and-white artwork certainly provides not only a very nice decorative trim so to speak but that in particular Ferguson's illustrated snowscapes nicely and successfully reflect and mirror what Marion Dane Bauer is textually providing and writing about in and for The Green Ghost (and thus also a solid four star rating for the combination of text and images)."

"The Red Ghost (2008) is the second of Marion Dane Bauer's four emerging reader paranormal chapter books and is in my opinion geared towards and as such also most suited for young readers (especially girls) from about the age of six to eight or nine (with the series stories titled The Blue Ghost, The Red Ghost, The Green Ghost, The Golden Ghost and with each obviously having a colour both in the title and also within the featured texts in so far that the scenarios related by Dane Bauer very specifically present spirits appearing in blue, red, green and golden hues). And because the four books are standalones, they of course also do not need to be perused in order of publication and that what Marion Dane Bauer for example relates in The Red Ghost actually has nothing to do with and has no bearing on either The Green Ghost or on The Blue Ghost and bien sûr also vice versa (but just to point out that I have not yet read The Orange Ghost although I am planning to do so).

Now with The Red Ghost Dane Bauer presents a simple and as such also more than a trifle on the surface and underdeveloped but still generally readable and sufficiently entertaining for the above mentioned six to nine year olds story of an old doll clad in a red velvet dress, bonnet and cape, how the main protagonist, how young Jenna finds her at a neighbourhood garage sale and with Miss Tate actually letting Jenna have the doll for free (as a birthday present for Jenna's younger sister Quinn). But when in The Red Ghost Jenna's affectionate and gentle cat Rocco hisses at the doll, when crying sounds and a voice asking for help repeatedly emanate from her, when Jenna's best (and usually fearless) friend Dallas actually finds the doll majorly and hugely eerily frightening, Jenna realises the red costumed toy is somehow haunted, tries to give the doll back to Miss Tate (who categorically refuses to oblige) and then gives her to Quinn for her birthday (and ahead of time), but that Jenna's sister equally refuses to take the doll, claiming that she, that the red clothed doll is already "full" (and that it actually ends up being Rocco who in The Red Ghost finally physically attacks, claws open the doll and thereby releases the red coloured ghost of Hazel, of Miss Tate's little sister who died of scarlet fever as a child and whose soul and spirit were obviously somehow imprisoned in her favourite doll for decades). And with Peter Ferguson’s sketchy black-and-white drawings for The Red Ghost providing a nice decorative trim for Marion Dane Bauer's words (but also not being either visually overwhelming or terrifying), for my eight year old inner child, for my eight year old reading self The Red Ghost (and the combination of text and images) has most definitely been a for the most part decently pleasant and as such also ofd course enjoyable experience.

However, and the above having been said, while my above mentioned inner eight year old reader has liked The Red Ghost well enough, she also finds the doll story on the one hand interestingly creepy and thankfully not overly terrifying, but on the other hand with a rather majorly and even totally lacking and even almost non-existent textually described backstory, and that the entire episode of the ghost appearing and then disappearing in a puff of reddish smoke so to speak lasts for something like one or two pages maximum is also more than a bit ridiculous (and yes, even considering Dan Bauer's intended audience), so that my general rating for The Red Ghost (both from childhood and emerging reader inner me and equally so from my older adult reading self) can thus be but three stars maximum (and that I certainly have enjoyed both The Blue Ghost and The Green Ghost considerably more than The Red Ghost)."