David LaRochelle

author & illustrator

The Haunted Hamburger and Other Ghostly Stories

The Haunted Hamburger

by David LaRochelle
illus­trat­ed by Paul Meisel
Dut­ton Chil­dren’s Books, 2011
Ages 4 to 8
ISBN 978–0‑525–42272‑3

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When two lit­tle ghosts refuse to go to sleep, there’s only one thing left for their father to do: tell them spooky ghost sto­ries. But what proves scary for lit­tle ghosts will be hilar­i­ous to chil­dren. A ghost who is used as a dia­per? A ham­burg­er who can win a scary face con­test with­out mov­ing? Read the book to find out the details…if you dare! It’s a fright­ful­ly fun­ny read aloud any time of the year.

Buy the Book 

Resources

Whether you’re a teacher, librar­i­an, book­seller, or sim­ply a cre­ative ghost look­ing for a fun way to cel­e­brate sil­ly, spooky sto­ries, here are 13 ways to host your own Hilar­i­ous Haunt­ed Book Par­ty!

And here are some free pdf files to help you with your celebration:

bullet  Book­marks to color

bullet  A Haunt­ed Ham­burg­er that you can make as fright­en­ing as you want

bullet  A Mys­tery Pic­ture puzzle

bullet  A sil­ly, inter­ac­tive, fill-in-the-blank sto­ry about a strange crea­ture named Oswald.

Your stu­dents will have a rol­lick­ing time with this easy-to-read Read­er’s The­atre script of The Haunt­ed Ham­burg­er, adapt­ed by edu­ca­tor Hei­di Grosch. No cos­tumes or sets necessary

Awards and Recognition

North Car­oli­na Chil­dren’s Book Award

Reviews

“The humor is free­wheel­ing and per­fect­ly calibrated…it should evoke both snig­gers and bel­ly laughs.… Per­fect for Halloween—but too good not to read all year round.” (Martha V. Par­ra­vano, The Horn Book, starred review)

“Meisel’s hap­less, gap-toothed ghosts and LaRochelle’s knack for pitch-per­fect bed­time sto­ry­telling make these sto­ries light on hor­ror but heavy on laughs.” (Pub­lish­ers Week­ly)

“As fresh as LaRochelle’s text is, Meisel’s play­ful­ly ren­dered illus­tra­tions cap­ture every ridicu­lous, gig­gle-induc­ing moment and amps it right up. Share with the most sleep-resis­tant and squirmy kids for a sure­fire read-aloud romp.” (Kirkus Reviews

“Smart­ly writ­ten with plen­ty of unex­pect­ed twists, this book is sure to become a year-round bed­time favorite.” (School Library Jour­nal)