Tuesday Tales: Ghost With the One Black Eye

Presenting another favorite of mine. I used this one as part of my library presentations because it was a fun way to introduce myself and tell the kids it was one of the reasons I loved the library so much...you could find fun stories like The Ghost With the One Black Eye. In my case I found it in an old resource called Storyteller's Rendevouz.  No longer in print. You may be able to find it in your library's reference collection.


Hope you enjoy!
Now, this story has been around a long, long time. I remember telling a version of it when I was a little kid. Speaking of versions, here is one of my favorites:
John David Hickey -you will note his own special version in terms of the family and the fact that he gave them names! I love that and what a great way to invite children to retell a story using their own words and ideas.

And here is how I tell it written out into story form. Keep in mind, though, you can play with this and re-tell it however you want. To be honest I never tell this one the same way each time. Give the family names! It does not have to be apple juice the baby is drinking. One thing we did with the story is asked the kids where they thought the ghost went next? Did it turn up in another story?

Once upon a time there a family of five. There was a mother, a father, a brother, a sister and a baby.

The baby was drinking from her cup when all of a sudden she started to cry. “WAAAA.”

“Baby, what is the matter?” asked the sister.

“No apple juice.” The baby shook her cup to show it was empty.

The sister jumped up from the table and looked in the fridge. No apple juice! She checked in the cupboard. No apple juice.

The baby cried. “WAAAAA.”

“Check in the basement,” said the mother.

So, the sister walked down, down, down into the basement. She started to walk over to where the apple juice was when she heard a voice that said, “I am the ghost with the one black eye!”

“YIKES,” said the sister and she ran back upstairs. “There’s a ghost in the basement, I can’t get the apple juice!”

The baby cried. “WAAAAA.”

“Oh brother,” the brother said. ‘Ghosts? I don’t think so.”

So, the brother walked down, down, down into the basement. He started to walk over to where the apple juice was when he heard a voice that said, “I am the ghost with the one black eye!”

“YIKES,” said the brother  and he ran back upstairs. “There’s a ghost in the basement, I can’t get the apple juice!”

The baby cried. “WAAAAA.”

“Oh for goodness sakes. I’ll go,” the mother said.

So, the mother walked down, down, down into the basement. She started to walk over to where the apple juice was when she heard a voice that said, “I am the ghost with the one black eye!”

“YIKES,” said the mother and she ran back upstairs. “There’s a ghost in the basement, I can’t get the apple juice!”

The baby cried. “WAAAAA. WAAAAA. WAAAA”

“Enough,” hollered the father. “I’ll get the juice.”

So, the father walked down, down, down into the basement.  He started to walk over to where the apple juice was when he heard a voice that said, “I am the ghost with the one black eye!”

“YIKES,” said the father and she ran back upstairs. “There’s a ghost in the basement, I can’t get the apple juice!”

The baby cried. “WAAAAA.”

‘We’ll get some from the store later,” the father said.

“NO, said the baby. “I’ll get it myself.”

So, the baby crawled down, down, down into the basement. She started to crawl  over to where the apple juice was when she heard a voice that said, “I am the ghost with the one black eye!”

“You’ll be the ghost of TWO black eyes if you don’t be quiet,” the baby shouted.

“YIKES,” said the ghost, and he ran away!

Happy Tuesday and while I have you here wanted to let you know that I am hosting a Marvelous Middle Grade May Reading Month so hope you can check it out to see what it's all about. Bye for now!