The Ghost Family Meets Its Match: Library Edition

Rubel, Nicole

ISBN 10: 0803710941 ISBN 13: 9780803710948

Publisher: Dial Books, 1992

Synopsis

For a century, a family of ghosts successfully scares everyone away from their haunted house, until some new tenants move in with a surprise of their own

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

A family of ghosts one day settles into a house abandoned by a famous African explorer and still adorned with his collection of curiosities. Mummies line the attic, dismembered statues litter the lawn and a gape-mouthed crocodile, presumably stuffed, serves as an umbrella stand. For decades the Ghosts fend off a (somewhat too long) string of would-be occupants. But their tactics don't work on the Merryssic , who, like the members of the Addams family, see skeletons in the bathroom and even spiders in the breakfast cereal as perfectly conducive to domestic bliss. The Ghosts are baffled until the full moon sheds light on the mystery (the wolf motif in the Merrys' decorating scheme provides another clue). Teeming with the sort of eccentric, eye-catching details that characterize Rubel's illustrations for the Rotten Ralph books, depictions of the interior of the haunted house are a paean to the delights of excess: palm-tree wallpaper, life-size monkey candleholders, octopus chandeliers, etc. Colors, patterns and textures collide yet coexist harmoniously, creating an immensely appealing, pleasantly ghoulish effect. Sure to entrance young horror enthusiasts without scaring off their fainter-of-heart peers. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal:

PreSchool-Grade 2-- A 19th-century mansion is haunted by the ghostly quintet of a family and its cat. Through several generations, the Ghosts manage to scare away all prospective tenants, but in the 1980s, undaunted, the Merry family occupies the house. Who you gonna call? Nobody. They actually like living there. Then, on a night when the full moon shines brightly, the Ghosts watch as the Merry family turns into werewolves. Rubel's busy, fill-the-page style is beloved by ``Rotten Ralph'' fans (Houghton). Here, she has made the ghosts look like unearthly green Victorians. The haunted house decor is suitably impressive, and the ghosts' repertoire of dirty tricks will be satisfying to all but the most jaded preschoolers. However, the overall design is somewhat disappointing; large pictures overwhelm small print. On each of three pages, a single sentence dangles on top of the page, creating an unbalanced effect. Still, the book is sure to be a favorite. --Anna Biagioni Hart, Sherwood Regional Library, Alexandria, VA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dial Books
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0803710941
• ISBN 13: 9780803710948
• Binding: Library Binding
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320