This is Nathaniel Lachenmeyer’s first haunted book. He is
also the author of The Origami Master illustrated by Aki Sogabe and
Broken Beaks illustrated by Robert R. Ingpen and has written
non-fiction books for adults as well. He lives in a not-haunted
house outside of Atlanta.
Nicoletta Ceccoli studied at the State Institute of Art in Urbino,
Italy. She was awarded the Silver Medal in 2006 by the Society of
Illustrators in New York, and won the Anderson Prize in 2001,
honoring her as the best children’s book illustrator in Italy.
Nicoletta has illustrated many acclaimed picture books here and
abroad, including The Girl in the Castle Inside the Museum and How
the Robin Saved Spring. She lives in San Marino, Italy.
"Writer Nathaniel Lachenmeyer has noticed the scary fact that the
first three letters in book spell boo. He conjures up the idea of a
haunted book that's more fun than a haunted house. His book should
stir young imaginations and prove that printed text and
illustrations, a mixture of acrylics, digital photography and clay
puppets, can be as interactive as the flashiest video game. Readers
are advised: 'Book ghosts love having books read to them.' The Boo!
Book, which has a pop-up surprise on the last page, is perfect for
not-too-spooky read-alouds."
*USA Today*
"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."
--Publishers Weekly
"Lachenmeyer's imaginative text is both straightforward and
lyrical, keeping the haunting more spookily magical than scary.
It's Ceccoli's impressive and intricate illustrations, however,
that truly bring this book to ethereal life. Using 'a combination
of plasticine puppets, digital photography, Photoshop, and acrylics
on paper,' Ceccoli creates an almost three-dimensional, soft-focus
world of muted, twilight tones in which horizons are tilted and
objects float or turn upside down. The effect is beautifully
supernatural rather than creepy, and the blue-gray, cat-eared,
rosy-cheeked ghost is appealingly stuffed-animal-like, the only
hint of his spectral origins being two tiny fangs. This would make
a fine addition to either a Halloween- or book-themed storytime or
add a delicious hint of eeriness to a bedtime readaloud."
--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"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."
Kirkus Reviews
"Lachenmeyer's imaginative text is both straightforward and
lyrical, keeping the haunting more spookily magical than scary.
It's Ceccoli's impressive and intricate illustrations, however,
that truly bring this book to ethereal life. Using 'a combination
of plasticine puppets, digital photography, Photoshop, and acrylics
on paper,' Ceccoli creates an almost three-dimensional, soft-focus
world of muted, twilight tones in which horizons are tilted and
objects float or turn upside down. The effect is beautifully
supernatural rather than creepy, and the blue-gray, cat-eared,
rosy-cheeked ghost is appealingly stuffed-animal-like, the only
hint of his spectral origins being two tiny fangs. This would make
a fine addition to either a Halloween- or book-themed storytime or
add a delicious hint of eeriness to a bedtime readaloud."
--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
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.
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