General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Ghostwriter (2019 TV series)

Ghostwriter is a children's live-action mystery series that premiered on Apple TV+ on November 1, 2019, in which a ghost haunting a neighborhood bookstore releases fictional characters into the real world and four kids team up to solve the mystery of its unfinished business.¹^•² Developed for television by J.J. Johnson and Andrew Orenstein, it is a reimagining of the PBS series Ghostwriter (1992-1995) produced by Sesame Workshop with Sinking Ship Entertainment.²^•³ It ran for three seasons of 13 episodes each, ending on October 21, 2022.⁴

Key fact	Detail
Premiere	November 1, 2019, as one of Apple TV+'s initial offerings¹^•³
Premise	A ghost haunts a neighborhood bookstore and releases fictional characters into the real world; four kids must return them to their books⁵
Run	Three seasons, 13 episodes each (39 total), November 1, 2019 to October 21, 2022⁴
Production	Sesame Workshop (studio) with Sinking Ship Entertainment; executive producers include Luke Matheny, Andrew Orenstein, J.J. Johnson, Christin Simms, Blair Powers, and Kay Wilson Stallings²
Awards	Won Outstanding Children's or Family Viewing Programming at the 47th Daytime Emmy Awards; Apple TV+ thereby became the first streaming service to win a Daytime Emmy in its first year of eligibility⁶
Rating	TV-G; approximately 25 minutes per episode⁷^•⁵

Spoilers

Premise

The series centers on four kids brought together by a ghost in a neighborhood bookstore. The ghost communicates through written words and phrases spelled out in unexpected places that only the children can see, and it releases characters from works of literature into the real world. In the first season, Ruben Reyna (Isaac Arellanes), newly arrived in the city to live with his grandfather, is connected with Chevon (Amadi Chapata), Curtis (Justin Sanchez), and Donna (Hannah Levinson); the four must gather up the wayward visitors, such as Mowgli from The Jungle Book and characters from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and return them to their books. To do this they turn to the source books for context, learning each story well enough to tell friend from foe and help the characters solve their problems.⁷^•⁸

In its second season the young heroes work to save their bookstore and discover the ghost's identity, meeting characters including Dr. Watson of Sherlock Holmes fame alongside tales created for the series such as "Malia and the Magic Paintbrush" and "The Cobalt Mask."⁶ Season 3, released October 21, 2022, follows an entirely new cast of middle schoolers, Nia (Princess K. Mapp), Samir (Nour Assaf), and Charli (Daire McLeod), on adventures including a trio of Wizard of Oz-inspired characters.²^•⁹

Production and origins

The reboot was announced in September 2019 as a reinvention of the original Ghostwriter, a 1992-1995 PBS series in which New York City kids solved neighborhood mysteries with the help of a ghost who spelled out clues using text in books; that original ran 74 episodes and had briefly continued on CBS as The New Ghostwriter Mysteries.³ Like the original, the new series comes from Sesame Workshop (formerly the Children's Television Workshop), and it keeps the multicultural city setting of the first show.¹⁰^•⁶

The most deliberate change was in the mystery itself. Kay Wilson Stallings, Sesame Workshop's executive vice president of Creative and Production, explained that on the original show the focus was literacy and teaching kids to read, while the reimagined version centers on literature, encouraging children at an age when they can read to sample genres beyond the one they get stuck in. Having the ghost release fictional characters from books was a device created for the reboot, not a component of the original.¹¹ Luke Matheny, the series' Academy Award-winning writer and director, said he tried not to think of the original while working on this version, aiming to reimagine rather than imitate it.¹¹

Reception and recognition

Season 1 holds a 100% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes based on six critic reviews, with an audience Popcornmeter score of 79% from fewer than 50 ratings.¹² The Sydney Morning Herald's review called it a watchable fantasy-mystery series that aims to get kids reading children's classics again. Common Sense Media, which rated the show for ages 8+ and named it a Common Sense Selection, praised it as well written with a diverse cast and no iffy content.¹²^•⁷ The series also earned a Prix Jeunesse Award and a Parents' Choice Gold Medal Award.²

Its Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Children's or Family Viewing Programming at the 47th Annual Daytime Emmys made Apple TV+ the first streaming service to win a Daytime Emmy in its first year of eligibility.⁶

Books and spinoffs

Sesame Workshop expanded the series' literacy mission into print and web formats. In December 2019, Sourcebooks and Sesame Workshop announced a companion book series mixing inclusively adapted classics with original works, beginning with Ghostwriter Presents: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and The Jungle Book, with the original story Trinity by D.J. MacHale following at the end of that month.¹³ A 2021 web series, Ghostwriter: Beyond the Page, extends the show on YouTube and Apple TV, teaching children the elements of storytelling through short episodes hosted by the character Donna, with an accompanying activity guide.¹⁴ Sesame Workshop also publishes featured curricula tied to the show, including "Reading is Empowering," "A Motivation to Read," and "Diversity and Inclusion."¹⁵

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026