From My Reading Chair…
Somebody give this Ghost my spare key!
When Dylan and his family move into their new house, there’s somebody already living there. Cheeky of the estate agents to double-book, although, in this housing market, I suppose a sitting spectre counts as a period feature?! Unfortunately, but understandably, the adults take rather poorly to their undisclosed spectral housemate and decide he has to go. Imagine being evicted from your own haunting?!
Jess Rose gives this little ghost such expressive features that I’m completely caught up in his poltergeist predicament. Sweet, humorous and mournful enough to make my heart wobble. (Is there some kind of afterlife housing association I can call?!) I mean, surely they can squeeze in one more resident? He’s hardly going to monopolise the bathroom, is he?
The blues, oranges, pinks and pops of yellow in the palette are gorgeous, with pencil-like lines and watercolour-ish brushstrokes giving the pictures a softness I love. There’s plenty of variation in the layouts too: double-page spreads, panels, windows and stretches of blank space. My eyeballs can roam around the house, then settle on an expression that gets me in my feels all over again.
The further I read, the more enraged I became, until I was audibly muttering, “Well, THE GHOST WAS HERE FIRST!” The family may have bought the house, but what about the ghost who already called it home? I genuinely love that a picture book can get me pondering home ownership and belonging.
Thankfully, Dylan notices how unfair this is too and wants to put things right. Speaking up when your own family has decided otherwise takes some serious courage. Especially when you’re the child and the groan-ups are apparently VERY certain they know best.
We ask children to be kind, to listen and to speak up, but sometimes that seems to mean keeping their opinions to themselves when they disagree with us. Dylan has spotted something deeply unfair, and he won’t shrink his emotions just because the groan-ups say so. His determined protests give his family something to reconsider. I adore that the child gets to challenge the decision, and the adults get the chance to think again.
Well, Dylan, if he ever needs another address, there’s always a home for a ghost with me. Although I’d appreciate a little notice before any unexpected appearances…
Creep on Reading, Pumpkins!