Who knew ghosts suffer from some of the same problems humans do? Like being different. I hadn't planned to review this so early but my wandering fingers opened it by mistake and I decide to take an early look. Glad I did. Next thing I knew, I'd read the entire story. What a sweet, meaningful one. Poor little Ghost Quilt struggles to fit in with the rest of his ghostly family but, well, he isn't like them. They're all of the white sheet mode we're so used to seeing ghosts depicted as. Instead of light, swirly, twirly sheets, however, Ghost Quilt is, well, a quilt. A sweet little mostly blue quilt of blocks with various patterns but a quilt nevertheless. As a result, it's heavier and he has trouble keeping up, so to speak. No one really seems to bully him but he feels isolated just the same. Needless to say, finding the trail to his true self and realization that it's okay to be different isn't easy. You'll enjoy the story of how he does it, I'm sure, as well as the illustrations.
Speaking of illustrations, kudos to illustrator Eggenschwiler. He uses a limited pallet of colors, in fact it's largely monochromatic, but it serves us well to not just keep us in the story but show progress as it goes along. Actually, the only color that pops out initially is the blue and white of the quilt. It's as the story progresses that the color begins a slow, subtle transformation.I guess it's only appropriate for a story with ghosts that the arrival of Halloween seems to signal the switch. Be sure to pay attention to the color changes and, hey, don't miss the patterns on Ghost Quilt himself. The sunset at the end was a lovely touch.
Bottom line, a sweet, charming story that will help lead children to understand that being different isn't of itself a bad thing. It's an important message, especially to children, although one older readers can embrace, too. Thanks #TundraBookGroup for allowing me this early intro to Ghost Quilt and his world.
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