Review: Little Ghost's Summerween - Maggie Edkins Willis
Review: Little Ghost's Summerween - Maggie Edkins Willis - April 2026
Little Ghost has attended his very first birthday party and decides he wants one of his own. His friend Anya gives him the most beautifully simple advice: the party should celebrate what Little Ghost loves most. And of course, what Little Ghost loves most is Halloween - bats, black cats, candy corn, pumpkins, the whole gloriously spooky lot. The small snag? It's the middle of summer.
What unfolds is a genuinely delightful little story about identity, creativity, and the joy of refusing to be boxed in by expectations. Maggie Edkins Willis has a wonderful instinct for the interior logic of childhood like of course you can have Halloween in summer. Why wouldn't you? The solution Little Ghost lands on (a "Summerween" party) is exactly the kind of lateral thinking that picture books do best: it validates kids who feel like they don't quite fit the calendar of normal celebrations.
The illustrations are where this book truly shines. The art is soft, warm, and wonderfully atmospheric , she somehow makes a ghost in sunlight feel just as cosy as a ghost by candlelight. The visual contrast between summer brightness and Halloween's signature palette is handled with real skill and makes every page a small pleasure to linger on.
If I have one quibble, it's that the emotional arc resolves a little quickly. A beat or two of genuine doubt for Little Ghost would have made the triumph feel even sweeter. But for the picture book format and its intended audience, the pacing works just fine.
Reading this genuinely made me think about my own upcoming birthday , am I planning something that actually reflects me, or just defaulting to what birthdays are "supposed" to look like? Little Ghost would say: throw the Summerween. I think he's right.
A sweet, visually lovely read for anyone who's ever felt like their favourite things don't fit the season.
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