SEE THE GHOST

Big laughs from this early reader.

Broken into three stories, LaRochelle’s accessible text will inspire confidence and giggles in new readers. Wohnoutka’s gouache, comics-inspired illustrations use speech balloons to ratchet up the humor while providing context cues to support emerging decoding skills and ample white space for resting the eyes. Ironic counterpoint between art and text is an immediate source of comedy as readers are told to “See the ghost” on Page 1 of the first story, while speech-balloon text on the facing page reads, “Boo!” and points to an invisible speaker. Sight unseen, the ghost scares a yellow dog (“Yikes!” it cries) and a blue cat (“It’s a ghost! Help! Help! Save me!”), whom readers may recognize from the creators’ See the Cat (2020) and See the Dog (2021). The ghost is then confused when another “Boo!” fails to frighten some flowers. When another invisible character shows up in the second story, “See the Wind,” blustery gusts cause havoc in new humorous situations with the cat and dog. A fairy arrives in the third tale, exclaiming in her speech balloon, “Hi! My name is Trixie! I am so small that you cannot even see me. Hee-hee!” She’s mischievous, too, and her tricks prompt strong reactions from the dog, cat, and even the wind. Trixie makes amends by gifting the cat and dog new kites, which they fly in the wind as they “spend the afternoon together.”

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