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World Full of Ghosts

Charis Cotter - Author

A lively, internationally wide-ranging introduction to ghost traditions, this book moves quickly between short entries, personal accounts and atmospheric artwork. Its tone is often playful, though some images and stories are more unsettling.

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Book Analysis

At a Glance

Discover

Folklore· ExplainedCultural beliefs· ExplainedSpirits· Explained

Consider

Fear and suspenseViolence and harmGrief and loss

Personalised Fit

Beyond the Cover

folklorecultural beliefsspiritsdeathremembrancecommunity celebration

Non-fiction

Themes in Context

Ghost traditions across cultures

The book introduces traditional spectres associated with places including Alaska, Japan, China, Mexico, Africa, England and Scotland, alongside accounts of Halloween and Día de los Muertos.Exploratory / explanatory

How the book presents it: Its main approach is to explain and present different ghost traditions as cultural stories, while the playful tone may make them approachable rather than solemn.

Talk about: How does the book explain differences between a community’s tradition and a claimed supernatural fact?

Death, remembrance and celebration

The Mexico excerpt depicts Día de los Muertos as a lively cemetery gathering with food, flowers, music, photographs and children’s games.

How the book presents it: In this excerpt, remembrance is portrayed positively through shared celebration, with death treated as part of a communal occasion rather than only as something frightening.

Talk about: If a child has personal experience of bereavement, how might this cheerful treatment of remembrance feel to them?

Why It May Be Worth Reading

It offers a starting point for discussing how different communities represent spirits, death and remembrance. The Day of the Dead section presents cemetery celebration as a way of bringing life, death and family memory together.

What Deserves Attention

Some material may deserve a preview: ghostly violence is mentioned, one illustration has a bloody and gruesome quality, and the stories are rated from one to three skulls for scariness.

A Conversation Worth Having

When the book presents a spirit linked with death, hunger or frightening behaviour, does it distinguish cultural belief, storytelling and claimed personal experience clearly enough for your child?

Reading Approach

Read a few entries at a time and use the skull ratings to choose the order.

Confidence & Basis

Theme indicators describe how the book presents a topic; they are not a verdict on the whole book or your family's values. Confidence reflects how much book-specific material was checked. Only part of the book information was available, so some details remain unconfirmed.

What remains unconfirmed

Ghost traditions across cultures: Some details of this treatment remain unclear.
Death, remembrance and celebration: Only the Mexico passage is available in detail, so the treatment of death and remembrance elsewhere in the book remains unclear.

A World Full of Ghosts - Cotter, Charis: 9781554511839 - AbeBooks

Limited information

Checked: 23 September 2026.

Relevant to: Ghost traditions across cultures; Death, remembrance and celebration

A World Full of Ghosts - Cotter, Charis: 9781554511822 - AbeBooks

Limited information

Checked: 23 September 2026.

Relevant to: Death, remembrance and celebration

A WORLD FULL OF GHOSTS

Limited information

Checked: 22 September 2026.

Relevant to: Ghost traditions across cultures

Benefits, discussion questions and reading approaches are suggestions. Your knowledge of your child remains part of the decision.

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Heidi

World Full of Ghosts

At a Glance

Discover

Consider

Personalised Fit

Beyond the Cover

Themes in Context

Ghost traditions across cultures

Death, remembrance and celebration

Why It May Be Worth Reading

What Deserves Attention

A Conversation Worth Having

Reading Approach

What remains unconfirmed