Review by Booklist Review
One summer three cousins discovered that things are not what they seem. While visiting their grandmother, they catch sight of a pale face in the window of a decrepit house at the end the street. Obviously, the house is haunted! Their grandmother knows otherwise and helps to dispel their fears by introducing the kids to the old man who lives there: her favorite childhood teacher, kind Mr. Peterson. The kids and their grandmother spend the summer visiting him and discovering all the hidden treasures in his beloved house. One day Mr. Peterson is taken to a nursing home and the kids collect mementos for him remember his home by. Author-illustrator Rust uses her background in animation to create expressive characters and give the story a cinematic feel, complete with speech-balloon dialogue and framed sequences. The house in the beginning of the tale looks spooky, but as the narrative progresses and the kids get to know Mr. Peterson, the house becomes a place of life and warmth. A great book to teach empathy, kindness, and neighborly love.--Rosie Camargo Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
When Patrick and his sister, the narrator, arrive for a summer stay with their grandmother, their rambunctious cousin Robert shows them a spooky old Victorian house and shies a rock at an upper window. ("I don't think Robert really wanted to break the glass," the girl says loyally.) An elderly man's face appears at the window, frightening the children. But he's no ghost, and their grandmother knows him: "Mr. Peterson had been Grandma's favorite teacher when she was a girl." With Grandma's introduction to smooth the way, a visit to the house ("It was full of fascinating things. Each one had a story") leads to a friendship with Mr. Peterson. Angular, shadowy illustrations by Rust (Tricky) dwell on treasures such as wind-up toys, a home movie projector, and a basement full of preserved food in jars. And when Mr. Peterson takes ill and is moved to a retirement home, it is Robert who sees to the work of documenting Mr. Peterson's home. Rust weaves themes of open-mindedness, intergenerational community, and generosity through the story as the children use the distinctive gifts Mr. Peterson has given each of them to make him something special in return. Ages 4--8. (Sept.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Horn Book Review
A child narrator recounts events from the previous summer, when she stayed at her grandmothers house with her brother and cousin and befriended an elderly neighbor. While cycling, the kids discover a rundown house at the end of the road. Thinking it abandonedand potentially hauntedone of them throws a rock at a window. It doesnt break, but a ghostly figure appears in the window, causing the kids to make a swift departure. Guilt weighs on them until they confess to Grandma, who helps cultivate a friendship between the children and the houses occupant, Mr. Peterson. They spend the summer exploring the antiques-filled home and getting to know Mr. Petersonuntil one day the children arrive to learn that the house has been condemned and their new friend has moved to a retirement community. Inspired by gifts Mr. Peterson gave them (a notebook, a camera, and some gardening tools), the children assemble a box of mementos for him before going home at summers end. The illustrations, hand-drawn and digitally colored, contain a mix of panels, word balloons, and traditional full-page pictures. Brief dialogue and small details in the visual narrative add humor and reveal characters emotions and backstories. The comics-inspired format and sensitive themes about looking deeply, questioning assumptions, and finding beauty everywhere make this a memorable offering. Elisa Gall January/February 2020 p.78(c) Copyright 2020. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Three cousins come upon an old house and find something they never expected.It's summer vacation, so Patrick and his sibling, the narrator, take the bus as they always do to visit Grandma; their rambunctious cousin Robert is already there. The trio gathers Grandma's old bikes to cycle around town, eventually coming across a dilapidated house. They decide to get closer. Robert dares to throw a rock at one of the windows. A spooky ghost face appears! The kids high-tail it off the property, Patrick jumping on behind the narrator and accidentally leaving his bike behind. When Grandma finds out what happened, she takes them all back to the house to apologize. The kids learn that the figure in the window wasn't a ghost at all but a person. In fact, they may have all just made a new friend. Related in the unnamed sibling's first-person, past-tense narration, this Canadian import is ultimately a sweet story of intergenerational friendship. The comic-book-panel layout, coupled with Rust's mixed-media cartoon illustrations, gives a cinematic quality that builds suspense with each page turn. Speech bubbles provide additional details to the account, which reads like a reminiscence, through sparse dialogue. The colors, switching from bright and summery to spookily desaturated, evoke emotion. While the red-haired, freckled narrator character presents white, the others have darker, more ambiguous coloring.Quiet and reflective, as fleeting as summertime itself. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
