Product Description

James is fed up. His family has moved to a new cottage - with grounds that are great for excavations, and trees that are perfect for climbing - and stuff is happening. Stuff that is normally the kind of thing he does. And he's getting blamed for it. But it's not him who's writing strange things on shopping lists and fences. It's not him who smashes bottles and pours tea in the Vicar's lap. It's a ghost - honestly. Thomas Kempe the apothecary has returned and he wants James to be his apprentice. No one else believes in ghosts. It's up to James to get rid of him. Or he'll have no pocket money or pudding ever again.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15972 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
Penelope Lively was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1933 and brought up there. She came to England in 1945, went to school in Sussex, and read Modern History at St Ann's College, Oxford. Her many books written for children include Astercote (1970), The Whispering Knights (1971), The Ghost of Thomas Kempe (1973), which won the Carnegie Medal, and A Stitch in Time (1976), which won the Whitbread Children's Book Award. Two of her novels written for adults have been shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction, and she won it in 1987 with Moon Tiger. More recent novels include The Photograph (2003) and Making it Up (2005). She has also written two volumes of autobiography and many short stories. Penelope Lively contributes regularly to a number of national daily newspapers and literary and educational journals. She has written radio and television scripts and was presenter for a BBC Radio 4 programme on children's literature. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a member of PEN and a former Chairman of The Society of Authors. She was awarded an OBE in 1989 and a CBE in 2001.

Customer Reviews

Ghost Of Thomas Kempe
Fascinating story about a young boy and his ghostly friend. None of the adults around him believe that there is a ghost until he befriends a local builder who doubles up as a psychic. I think I must have read this book about a dozen times 20-odd years ago when I was a child. Brilliantly written and what we would crassly describe as a "must-read" book these days. I wanted my own poltergeist but none ever materialised unfortunately.

A Childrens favourite
Penelope Lively is a Booker Prize winner and her earlier work, books for children, show the promise to come. This is the story of a young lad who, with his family, move into an old cottage in an English rural setting. Unfortunately before they could move in an attic room had to be opened up to make a bedroom for young James Harrison, and that is what awakened the seventeenth century sorcerer, Thomas Kempe. The ghost selects James as his apprentice and gives him more trouble than he imagined possible. Who would believe him if he told the truth about the broken dishes and strange messages that keep cropping up all over the village? Fortunately the problem has a solution and James manages to find it. This is an excellent childrens story and leaves the reader in no doubt about the writer’s craft.

Excellent book for 11/ 12 year olds
I have used this book with many classes at the top end of UK primary schools and the children invariably become totally enthralled by the relationship of past to present.