The Little Ghost Who Couldn’t Say Boo

It was Halloween night. The moon was big and round and yellow.

Up in the old bell tower, the ghosts were getting ready. Tonight was the night for saying “BOO!”

“BOO!” said the biggest ghost.

“BOO!” said the middle-sized ghost.

“BOO, BOO, BOO!” said the jolly twin ghosts, and they giggled till they wobbled.

Then it was the littlest ghost’s turn.

He was small and soft and round, like a puff of cloud. He took a big breath. He opened his mouth wide. And out came…

“Hooo…”

Not a boo at all. Just a soft, sleepy hooo, like a yawn. Or an owl.

He tried again. “Hooo…”

And again. “Hooo…”

“Never mind, little one,” said the biggest ghost kindly. “Every ghost has their own voice. Off you float, and see what yours can do.”

So off he floated, into the night.

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In the barn, a little bat was flitting and flapping, too busy to rest.

The littlest ghost floated close, and said as softly as he could:

“Hooo… hooo… goodnight to you.”

The bat folded her wings, one, two. She hung upside down, snug and still, and closed her eyes.

“Oh,” thought the littlest ghost. “Did I do that?”

In the old oak tree, an owl sat blinking her big round eyes.

“Hooo… hooo… goodnight to you.”

“Hooo,” said the owl back, which is owl for thank you. She ruffled her feathers, tucked in her head, and was fast asleep.

On the garden wall, a black cat was swishing her tail, watching the moon.

“Hooo… hooo… goodnight to you.”

The cat stretched one long, slow stretch. She curled into a soft black ball and began to purr. Purr… purr… and then not even that.

On the doorstep sat a pumpkin with a big carved smile. His candle was flickering low. Flick, flick, flick.

“Hooo… hooo… goodnight to you.”

The little flame gave one last golden glow, then settled, small and warm and still. And the pumpkin’s big smile looked sleepy too.

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The littlest ghost felt warm, all the way through.

“My hooo isn’t a boo,” he whispered. “It’s a goodnight.”

There was one more place to go.

He floated to a window where the light was low. Inside, a baby was tucked up, warm and cosy.

Do you know who it was?

It was you.

He stayed outside, soft as a cloud, and whispered his softest hooo of all.

“Hooo… hooo… goodnight… to you.”

Then he floated home. Past the pumpkin and the cat, past the owl and the bat, all fast asleep.

All the way back to the bell tower, where the big ghosts were snoring little snores that sounded a bit like boo.

The littlest ghost curled up, round as a puff of cloud. He closed his eyes. And he gave one last, long, sleepy…

Hooo.

Goodnight, little ghost.

Goodnight, little one.

The End

About this story

On Halloween night, all the ghosts go out to say “BOO!”, except the littlest one, whose boo always comes out as a soft, sleepy “hooo”. So he drifts through the night saying it to a bat, an owl, a black cat and a pumpkin, and one by one they all settle down to sleep. By the end he has worked out that his quiet voice isn’t a mistake. It’s a goodnight.

We wanted a Halloween story that little ones could have at bedtime, with the ghost as the gentlest thing in it rather than the scariest. And underneath, there’s an idea we like for any age: you don’t have to be loud, or what everyone expects, to be special. Being gentle is its own kind of brave.

Reading it aloud

• Make every “hooo” long, low and breathy, more like a yawn than a word. It’s a lovely sound to say into a little one’s hair.
• Say the “goodnight to you” lines a little slower each time, and slowest of all at the window.
• Toddlers soon join in with the “hooo”, and may want to do the jolly twins’ “BOO, BOO, BOO!” too, while it’s still early in the story.
• If your baby is already drowsy, whisper the “BOO!”s at the start. Nothing is lost.

Is it too scary?

No. Nobody is frightened or in danger, and the other ghosts are kind and jolly. The only loud part is the “BOO!”s at the start, and you can say those as softly as you like. The little ghost doesn’t even go into the baby’s room: he whispers goodnight through the window and floats home to bed.