Dial-A-Ghost

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.

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.

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.

I highly recommend this book, not only for children. The plot was interesting and the characters heart-warming. Lots of suspense--and tears and laughter. This middle-aged stockbroker found it great escape reading. I'm so glad I found this author.

I adore this as well as the much as I do the other Ibbotson's. The story of a family of ghosts who help a little boy defeat his evil cousins who would have him dead so that they might own a giant estate that he inherited. A great book with a wonderful story and sweetness all its own.