THE SECRET OF TREMBLETON HALL

Trembleton Hall has a bad reputation: Ghosts are said to lurk within its old stone walls. These rumors are met skeptically by the headmaster who buys the abandoned place as a boarding school. Mark, a schoolboy who loves the building, discovers an age-encrusted diary in the library that reveals to him the truth behind the haunted hall, a secret he vows not to disclose. The accent in the DÅrrs' book is on design, not storyline: this wonderfully crafted affair has half pages that turn to expose elfin activities, gatefolds that offer views behind the castle walls, and full-page, border-to-border spreads in gorgeous color. The paper engineering creates a feeling of suspense as well as providing a steady tempo; the story itself is modest, unprepossessing, and disappointing. The creatures of the night are bland and benign, as are the mysterious doings they visit upon the schoolboys (they aid the boys' dream processes). A clever idea without a proper home. (Picture book. 4-7)