Publisher Description

Having a pen pal is exciting One September evening, Gregory ties an index card with his name and address on it to the string of a silver helium balloon and lets it go from his window, into the city sky. Three weeks later, an envelope arrives in the mail. A farmer named Pete has found his balloon! Gregory writes back, and the two become pen pals, exchanging mystery gifts with each letter. Finally, Pete sends a gift that Gregory can identify only by a trip to the antural history museum, and the object turns out to be something truly amazing. With illustrations by the author, The Silver Balloon is perfect for early chapter-book readers.

Author Biography

Susan Bonners is the author and illustrator of many fiction and nonfiction picture books for children, including The Wooden Doll, Just in Passing, and A Penguin Year. She lives in Roslindale, Massachusetts.

Review

"A wonderful intergenerational story. Gregory, a shy fourth grader who lives in the city, initiates a pen-pal friendship when he sends off a message attached to a balloon...A solid choice." --School Library Journal "Young Gregory decides on a whim to release a helium balloonwith is name and address attached...The result is a great pen pal relationship that develops between Greg and the farmer Pete Mayfield [who] send a seried of mystery gifts to each other...This book will appeal to young readers on many levels - the mysteries fot he gifts, the development of the friendship, and the way that Greg sticks to his dreams till they come true." --Booklist "Bonners surreptitiously promote[s] letter writing, personal research, and the value of the publis library [and] she does it with an economy of words and a fast-paced, credible plot while her black-and-white drawings flesh out the text." --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Long Description

In the grounds of Castlemaine is a peculiar mound, hidden by yew trees. People say it's the grave of Wild Robert… Heather finds the mound when she tries to escape the hordes of tourists who invade the stately home where she lives. Wild Robert, I wish you were really under there! she cries. You could come out and deal with the tourists! All of a sudden, there is a smell like earth and strange spices. A voice says, Did somebody call? Heather gets her wish, and nothing is ever the same again! Wild Robert is a gentle, charming ghost, who is half a magician [on his mother's side]. He returns after 350 years and is horrified by the antics of the tourists at his once home Castlemaine House. Since he's a ghost who haunts by day, he plays some wonderfully wicked pratical jokes which drive the tourists away…

Review Quote

Young Gregory decides on a whim to release a helium balloonwith is name and address attached...The result is a great pen pal relationship that develops between Greg and the farmer Pete Mayfield [who] send a seried of mystery gifts to each other...This book will appeal to young readers on many levels - the mysteries fot he gifts, the development of the friendship, and the way that Greg sticks to his dreams till they come true.

Details