The Boo! Book

Lachenmeyer explains how to handle haunted books (answer: carefully) in a story starring an angelic child with curly hair, whose book is haunted by a pale translucent ghost with a penchant for mischief. Stories and words get turned upside down (“Book ghosts like nothing better than to meddle with stories”), and at one point the child even gets sucked inside the book. Ceccoli’s milky, light-infused illustrations combine plasticine puppets with digital photography and acrylics to a surreal 3-D effect, and a surprise pop-up supplies a gratifying conclusion. Ages 4–8. (Aug.)