Oscar, the Apprehensive Apparition - H.R. Sinclair

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Author: H.R. Sinclair
Illustrator: H.R. Sinclair
Genre: Children's Fiction
Rating: 3.5 stars.

A chapter book about a scared ghost. You read that right… not ‘scary’… ‘scared’.

Oscar is a ghost who lives alone in an abandoned house and is quite afraid of the dark. One night, he receives a mysterious letter asking him to come to the old cemetery to collect a package. Oscar is jittery. However, he knows it is rude to ignore a note, so he decides to go. Along the way, he encounters some pretty scary moments with what he presumes to be monsters but who turn out to be innocent creatures. When he finally reaches his destination and realises who sent the note and why, he realises that being brave had been a good choice and that he should give himself more credit for showing courage even when he was scared.

This is a sweet story because of its lead character and the various animals he encounters on his journey. The lesson that is brought up at the end is also worthwhile. Oscar is a cute fellow and I enjoyed how he did right even though he was quaking with fear.

The story is written in chapter book format, with there being four chapters spread across about 40 pages. While the content leaves a few things unexplained, children will still enjoy Oscar’s nocturnal adventure. There are B&W illustrations scattered throughout the story and they add to the fun.

As the title indicates, the vocabulary level in the content is on the higher side. The introductory page does reveal the meanings of ‘apprehensive’ and ‘apparition’ from the title, but there are plenty of difficult words in the content, such as nefarious, prospector, levitate, wraith, and many more. Considering that this is aimed at children aged 5-8 years, I do think that the vocabulary level should have been toned down a bit. Having a few new words in a story is fine, but based on the ‘Five Finger Rule’ for reading, this book might go beyond the recommended limit for its target readers.

On the whole, a nice effort at putting forth a “realistic” story about a ghost. While the story is about a nervous ghost, it shows how being scared doesn’t mean being cowardly.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author through ‘StoryOrigin’ and these are my honest thoughts about it.

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