Review by Booklist Review
According to this bit of metaphysical metafiction, book ghosts are almost as plentiful as house ghosts, and that makes sense when you consider the first three letters of the word book. This story provides clues for identifying haunted tomes, such as rapidly shifting characters and plotlines, mixed-up words, and if the book feels cool against your ear. If any of these scenarios are true, then you'll have to be brave, proclaim your love for all things ghostly, and never read anything haunted on Halloween or on the anniversary of the day the ghost first took up residence, lest you get sucked up into the book. Accompanying this bizarre advice are illustrations that are a combination of plasticine puppets, acrylic paint, and digital photographs, and produce a phantasmagorical effect featuring a pale blue, pink-cheeked, wombat-looking, mysterious-yet-nonthreatening ghost who plays with words and the mind of the young boy it's haunting. A surreal experience, this may baffle some and fascinate others.--Medlar, Andrew Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Lachenmeyer explains how to handle haunted books (answer: carefully) in a story starring an angelic child with curly hair, whose book is haunted by a pale translucent ghost with a penchant for mischief. Stories and words get turned upside down ("Book ghosts like nothing better than to meddle with stories"), and at one point the child even gets sucked inside the book. Ceccoli's milky, light-infused illustrations combine plasticine puppets with digital photography and acrylics to a surreal 3-D effect, and a surprise pop-up supplies a gratifying conclusion. Ages 4-8. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-The premise here is that just as there are haunted houses, there are also haunted books. What follows is a list of ways to determine if a book is haunted, followed by instructions for what to do should children find themselves reading one. Much of what transpires is disturbing and some of it is just plain creepy. "If you hold a book up to your ear and hear something that sounds like a ghost trying to hold its breath so you won't hear it breathing... the book is definitely haunted." "Never read a haunted book on the anniversary of the day the ghost first took up residence in the book. Most people who make this mistake get sucked up into the book... and are trapped between its covers forever." The digitally enhanced illustrations featuring clay models are also disturbing. The ghosts themselves are pale blue creatures with tails and sharp, pointy teeth who peer eerily out from between the pages, and the scenes where the youngster has been sucked into the book feature a nightmare world with things like a floating child holding its own head on a string like a balloon. Children who enjoyed Neil Gaiman's Coraline (HarperCollins, 2002) might find this offering to their liking, but the picture-book format would attract considerably younger children, who could conceivably find it frightening.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An engaging narrator, together with magical illustrations that often conjure surreal scenes, lets readers in on all there is to know about haunted books and how to be a good owner of one. "Everyone has heard of haunted houses," but "not many people know that books can be haunted too." Book ghosts are likely "to meddle with stories and turn them upside down" or occasionally scramble the words on a page. It's important not to offend book ghosts, and their book should not be read "on the anniversary of the day the ghost first took up residence" in it. Readers "who make this mistake get sucked up into the book." Lachenmeyer's fantastical story comes to life in the artful hands of Ceccoli. Employing a technique that utilizes Plasticine puppets, digital photography and acrylics, she will have readers feeling as though they have entered the book ghosts' deep, watery blue world, full of bubbles and populated by bizarre creatures such as a balloon-headed doll and swimming eyeballs. Children could be either fascinated or unsettled by the story's premise, but few will deny the captivating quality of the pictures. Characters appear to have a lifelike sparkle in their eyes, and the transparent, ice blue ghost comes across as more mischievous than scary. The book ends on an upbeat note and with an unnecessary pop-up. Although much talent is evident in this creative pairing, the result lacks overall appeal for the picture-book crowd; save for children with patience and a taste for the surreal. (Picture book. 4-7)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
