Starred Review ALA Booklist (Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 CDT 2015)

Starred Review In an empty house on the edge of a city lives Leo, the ghost of a young boy. He has been alone in the house a long time, and when a family moves in, he's delighted to have company, immediately rushing out to greet them with tea and toast. But not all families appreciate ghosts; when the tray comes floating toward them, they panic and call in the experts to dehaunt their house. Leo, knowing when he's unwelcome, leaves on his own to roam the city and meets a girl named Jane, who can see him. The trouble is, she thinks he's an imaginary friend, and "If I tell her I am a ghost," Leo thinks, "I will scare her away." Then, one night, a burglar breaks into Jane's house, and it's up to Leo to do what only a ghost d not an imaginary someone n do. The vintage-style cutout illustrations, almost entirely done in shades of blue, convey Leo's ghostliness and work well with the clever design. The first spread, apparently of an empty room, introduces our hero: "This is Leo. Most people cannot see him." But with a turn of a page, there he is ("But you can"), reading happily, sketched transparently as a simple line drawing. Despite the blue tones and Leo's initial loneliness, this is a tender, touching story of friendship and the power of imagination. And it is sure to warm hearts.

School Library Journal Starred Review (Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2015)

K-Gr 2 When Leo, a ghost, finds the new inhabitants of his house unwelcoming, he takes to the streets. Luckily, he encounters the fantastically fun Jane, who believes he is an imaginary friend. When Leo helps catch a thief breaking into her house, he is forced to admit that he is not an imaginary friend but a real one. Fortunately, the unflappable Jane graciously takes this all in stride. Barnett's story is expectedly droll and told in deadpan prose. There's just enough of it to provide a canvas for Robinson's thoughtful illustrations. His palette is almost exclusively blue, but the contrast between the different tones is sharp, and the heavy doses of gray with hints of green soften much of the blue into a neutral tone. Robinson solves the issue of a white ghost on a white page smartly by depicting Leo as a blue outline on white paper. Leo beautifully contrasts with the geometrically composed live humans, and Robinson finds some clever opportunities for depicting Leo's transparency. The balance of texture and white space helps mitigate the many shades of blue, retaining visual interest and keeping the overall feel upbeat. VERDICT A whimsical tale from Barnett aptly accompanied by enthralling artwork by Robinson. What's not to drool over? Erin Reilly-Sanders, Ohio State University, Columbus

Horn Book

Leo, a ghost boy, wanders into the city and meets a girl who thinks he's her imaginary friend but who stands by him when Leo's true nature is revealed. The friendship between the youngsters is touching and well partnered by Robinson's acrylic collage illustrations. Each page offers incidental and kid-pleasing pleasures of its own.