Leo: A Ghost Story

Product Information

D’une plume tout en fine sensibilité, Mac Barnett sait tricoter une adorable vérité entre les oeillères du réel. A few have two or three sold ahead of time, but haven’t written them yet, and even less have two or three finished waiting for publication, but SEVEN? Leo is a house ghost, but when a new family move into his home and shoo him away, he ventures out into the big city. Morbidly amused, but also genuinely curious, I turned to Mac and asked, “If we did all die in a fiery crash tonight, how many books do you have finished that would still be published posthumously? A lifeless story about the ghost of a child who gets evicted from his house and then confused for an imaginary friend.

His pencil drawings feel natural, and don't feel at all like they've been planned out carefully like they probably have done. Everyone else seems to like this book though, so I sincerely hope Barnett and Robinson work together again and try to top this effort. One particularly great thing about this book is that the pictures are all drawn in different shades of blue. Blue pages from beginning to end create almost an aged look to the pages at times and a glow on others. It’s a warm and wise story about acceptance trumping difference—including that between life and death.Last year, after our yearly author visit, I was driving through downtown Montgomery to have dinner with my wife (in the passenger seat) and Mac Barnett ( in the back seat). If Leo: A Ghost Story had been around when I was a kid, it would have been one of my favorite books. There are so many subtle, positive messages in this story, creeping into the brain through the eyes.

Leo: A Ghost Story is the tale of a true lost soul, looking for companionship after a long and lonely haunt. He openly welcomed the new family into his home, but, the family was scared and desperate and a little bit hateful of their housemate, so Leo hits the road as a roaming ghost. When a new family moves into his home and Leo's efforts to welcome them are misunderstood, Leo decides it is time to leave and see the world.Your reviews are noticed and appreciated, and, even though I keep up with kids lit, it's unlikely I would have found this on my own! Leo: A Ghost Story is a 2015 children's book written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Christian Robinson. Leo, the ghost whom most people can't see, leaves his home when the new inhabitants make him feel unwanted. It taps into underlying melancholy of Leo’s situation: Leo, of course, is a ghost who haunts a house until its new inhabitants make it clear that they have no interest in sharing the space with him.

We're not sure how long Leo wanders, but he is a lonely ghost in a foreign world, for we find out that his town has changed considerably since Leo became a ghost. Of course I appreciate the appearing act orchestrated in the first two spreads, but part of me questions that usage of space for a narrative that ultimately is about two characters. Some bookmakers have achieved that goal well with depth and humor, but Leo: A Ghost Story doesn't make the cut. Without giving too much of the plot away, he finds a friend though there is a misunderstanding that must be a fairly common occurrence among ghosts. If the ultimate focus is the friendship between Leo and Jane and how their life situations fit together, she deserved more pagetime.At it's heart, this tale is an affirmation of friendship and acceptance, with Leo learning that a true friend will love him as he is.