The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

Milord, Susan, Reteller

The Ghost on the Hearth

32 pp. | Vermont | October, 2003 | Trade ISBN 0-916718-18-2 $$15.95

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Lydia Dabcovich & Lydia Dabcovich. In this retelling of a tale passed down in the author's family, a young girl works at a Quebec farm, where one of her duties is cleaning candle wax from the hearth. When she dies, another servant girl takes her place, and after she cleans the hearth, candle wax mysteriously reappears on the fireplace stones. Although not strong in ethnic flavor, the story is smoothly told and illustrated with evocative paintings.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta