Opening on a dark October night in 1741, this spooky tale follows the miserly lawyer John Leep as he rides out to evict the Widow Mayes from one of his run-down properties. As he rides along, he slowly becomes aware that he is being followed, the clip-clop of his own horse's hooves echoed by those of another steed. After succeeding in his unworthy aim (or so he thinks), Leep sets off for home, only to disappear. Did he repent and move to another town? Or did a terrible ghost known as "Ol' Clip-Clop" get him...?

A deliciously creepy story from author Patricia C. McKissack is paired with vivid mixed-media and oil paint artwork from illustrator Eric Velasquez in Ol' Clip-Clop: A Ghost Story. The dust-jacket blurb claims that the tale here is based upon one that McKissack heard from family members, as a young girl, which makes me wonder whether it is taken from folklore, and is known elsewhere. In any case, the spooky chills received from reading this one will surely make it an excellent Halloween read-aloud. Recommended to children who enjoy ghost stories, and to anyone looking for picture-books set during the Colonial period. ( )

Summary: This is a ghost story that takes place on Friday the 13th about a man demanding rent money that was followed around by a ghost as he picked on his poor tenant. He man robbed her and threatened to kick her out in the middle of the night, all while he kept hearing "clip-clop, clip-clop" and thinking it was nothing. The next morning John Peck was gone.
Critique: This book teaches a lesson about karma, Peck got what he was asking for by robbing and being mean to the tenant old lady.
Prompts: What do you think John Peck keeps hearing? What makes this book a good ghost story?
Crafts: Good book for the month of October, talk about the history of Friday the 13th.

Spooky and suspenseful, good for reading aloud. ( )