Product Description

The Dial-a-Ghost Agency finds good homes for ghosts. And Fulton and Frieda Snodde-Brittle are looking for a few frightening ghosts to "accidentally" scare their young cousin and heir, Oliver, to death. The ladies at the Dial-a-Ghost Agency have the perfect match: the Shriekers, two bloodstained and bickering horrors. But thanks to a mix-up at the agency, the Wilkinsons, a kind family of ghosts, arrive instead. Can they put a stop to the Snodde-Brittles' schemes before it's too late?

Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #143339 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Amazon.com Review
After spending most of his 10 years in a London orphanage, Oliver Smith is horrified to discover he is the sole master of a grand old mansion. Oliver is quite satisfied with his life just as it is, but he soon finds himself ensconced in a spooky, creaky tower bedroom in Helton Hall, under the care of his two cruelly calculating cousins, the Snodde-Brittles. Cousin Fulton and Cousin Frieda, next in line to inherit the family mansion if something should happen to Oliver, have offered to help him settle in to his new home. Of course, if the matron of the orphanage knew that this assistance involved renting bloodthirsty ghosts from the Dial-a-Ghost Agency in hopes of frightening the boy to death, she certainly wouldn't have allowed Oliver out of her sight. As it turns out, though, there's been a bit of a mix-up at Dial-a-Ghost. The gruesome specters intended for Helton Hall accidentally end up at a convent, while the gentle family of ghosts that wind up in Oliver's home suit him just fine, much to his evil cousins' dismay.

Eva Ibbotson has established herself as a true master of her genre with her extraordinary fantasy novels such as Which Witch? and Island of the Aunts. In Dial-a-Ghost, Ibbotson continues to excel in wit, whimsy, and wisdom. It's as if one's favorite crazy aunt has dropped by to tell the kind of convoluted and magical story children really want to hear. (Ages 8 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly
Once again, Ibbotson (Which Witch; Island of the Aunts) dishes up an irresistible brew of magical high jinks and adventure in this tongue-in-cheek post-WWII ghost story set in Britain and starring two families of displaced spooks. Miss Pringle and Mrs. Mannering, founders of the Adopt-A-Ghost agency, are delighted when they find homes for two of their hard-to-place clients, the Wilkinson family of five (who died all at once when a bomb hit their house) and the Shriekers, a pair of maimed and foul-smelling aristocrats who, after suffering the loss of their only child, aim to rid the world of as many living youngsters as possible. Due to a clerical error, the spirits wind up in the wrong homes. The Shriekers haunt an abbey filled with mild-mannered nuns, and the Wilkinsons move into the Snodde-Brittle estate, where their two evil hosts plan to scare to death the youngest heir, a kindhearted orphan named Oliver. The comedy of errors becomes more complicated by the minute as murderous plots are foiled, ghost busters are hired and the identity of the Shriekers' long-lost daughter is uncovered (astute readers will figure it out before the Shriekers do). Hawkes's whimsical drawings perfectly capture the book's slapstick action and sly humor. Readers will be highly amused as disjointed pieces of the puzzle start to neatly interlock. Ages 8-12.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Gr 3-6-When a perfectly respectable family of ghosts finds itself homeless, its members are horrified to have to take up residence in a knicker shop (think Wonderbras). Luckily, an agency for the placement of homeless ghosts finds a lovely convent for them to haunt, but they are accidentally sent to Helton Hall instead, which is inhabited by one small and lonely orphan. The two hideous spirits who were supposed to be sent there to scare the boy to death (courtesy of Oliver's scheming, evil uncle) are mistakenly sent to the convent. But all turns out well and the evil uncle ends up a ghost in the knicker shop, tearing merchandise apart with his teeth. The irresistible premise of this story is that if you happen to become a ghost, you go on pretty much as you did before, but with tastes a tad more macabre. The book is filled with a large and delightful cast of characters, some made of ectoplasm and some made of flesh. No one could be as frightening as the de Bone ghosts, who festoon themselves with rotting gobbets of meat and a ghostly python, except maybe Uncle Fulton, who wants to take over Helton Hall. The Wilkinsons, from the bewhiskered, umbrella-wielding Grandma to little Adopta, are the perfect ghostly family for Oliver. The black-and-white illustrations have an eerie charm. Don't miss this phantasmally funny fantasy.

Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Great book for young readers
I am always looking for books for my nephews to read, and this one is one of the best I've found. It will appeal to all of the kids going through Harry Potter withdrawal. Oliver Smith is an orphan living happily in a Home. He suddenly finds out that he has inherited a great estate. Unfortunately, he has two evil cousins who also want the estate. They hire two vile ghosts who like to kill children to haunt the house. Unfortunately, there is a mixup at the agency, and the ghostly Wilkinson family take their place, for the time being anyway.

This is a really fun read. There are some illustrations, but the author's descriptions are so vivid they are practically unecessary. My nephew loved this book.

A delightful, hilarious new novel from Eva Ibbotson.
Helton Hall is the haunting, grandiose mansion that has been in the Snodde Brittle family for generations. Now, hoewever, a little boy with the last name Smith is the rightful owner -- not Fulton Snodde Brittle, who is enraged at this. Oliver Smith is an orphan, and has roots to the Snodde Brittles. Fulton and his wife, Frieda, will do anything to keep Oliver from owning it -- they plan on using the Shriekers, horrifying ghosts who wear meat for jewelry and love strangling children in their sleep, to scare away Oliver for good. But one family of ghosts who are nice won't let that happen. They're determined to protect Helton Hall's rightful owner -- no matter what horrors lurk inside the mansion. Dial-A-Ghost is the fourth hilarious and witty novel by Eva Ibbotson. I enjoyed it even more than Which Witch?, an award-winning and charming fantasy novel Harry Potter fans will enjoy. Readers are going to adore this exciting new ghost story.

Glorious -all her books for children are
I'm just finishing reading this to my six-year-old (the nine yearold is listening, despite having read it twice already)and we all love it so much that they can even been torn away from The Simpsons! If you haven't dsicovered Ibbotson yet, start with this one, or The Secret of Platform 13 (which is astoundingly like Harry Potter, but long before Harry Potter was written).

Oliver, an orphan, unwillingly inherits Helton Hall from his dreary relations, never guessing that the evil Fulton and Freida Snodde Brittle (family motto: I set my foot upon my enemies)want it so badly they pay an agency to send them the most horrible ghosts on their books. Luckily, the Shriekers (not only violent, but snobs) get sent to some kind nuns by mistake, and Oliver is sent the lovely, gentle Wilkinson family. The Wilkinsons, who have been camping in a London knicker shop ever since a bomb fell on their own home, have adopted a little girl ghost called Adopta, and she becomes Oliver's special friend. But the evil Snodde-Brittles are furious when, instead of dying of asthma and terror, Oliver loves his new guests...and The Shriekers, equally furious, are coming to Helton too.

Funny, thrilling and moving. We all adored it.