THE GHOSTS IN THE CELLAR

The adorable characters from The Ghosts’ Dinner (1994, not reviewed) return to win points with children despite a lackluster plot. Creeping and cowering into the cellar, the four frightened ghosts investigate loud bumps. They have a few false frights’spiders, mice, and bats—until they finally find out where a noise is coming from. Aunt Gigi, locked in a trunk, is ready to come out to celebrate her 500th birthday. An incredibly dull translation of what may have been funny in French (“Here I am.” “You pig! You’ve been eating the cheese!” accompanies a picture of a ghost with the color and texture of Swiss cheese, recalling the funny effects of the first book) precludes opportunities for humor; the text is redundant, for the art inventively depicts most of the action. (Picture book. 2-5)