Aggie and the Ghost

This might be a perfect picture book.

I love everything about Matthew Forsythe’s Aggie and the Ghost. I love Aggie. I love the ghost. I love the writing, the themes, the illustrations, and the close attention paid to page-turns, colours, and mood.

Montreal artist Matthew Forsythe – comic artist, children’s book illustrator, and animation designer – tells the charming story of Aggie, a girl who moves into a new house and finds it’s haunted by a persistent, rule-breaking ghost. Aggie is never afraid – after all, the ghost isn’t scary. They’re just … annoying. They steal her socks, eat her cheese, keep her awake, and never leave her alone. And Aggie really values her alone time. She tries to establish some rules. The ghost listens, but doesn’t follow through.

Frustrated, Aggie goes for a rainy day walk – only to be joined by the ghost, now wearing her scarf. So she challenges them to a high-stakes game of tic-tac-toe. If Aggie wins, the ghost has to move out. At first, they play seriously – but soon, they’re having so much fun that they both forget why they started.  When they’re done, they head home. Aggie makes more rules, and the ghost breaks them and finally, finally moves out. Aggie enjoys her alone time every bit as much as she expected but … she misses the ghost, just a little. So she invites them back.

They don’t live happily ever after, and that’s what makes this picture book so perfect. Aggie and the ghost are incompatible roommates, with different boundaries and lifestyles – and that’s okay. The ghost visits, but doesn’t overstay their welcome. Aggie keeps living her mostly solitary life.

This book quietly teaches children that it’s okay to choose friends based on shared values and boundaries. But it also shows that even when those things don’t align, we can still find healthy, joyful ways to connect – like playing tic-tac-toe. -- Sal Sawyer * Quill & Quire -- starred reveiw *
A plucky child meets her match in Aggie and the Ghost, author/illustrator Matthew Forsythe's delightfully droll picture book about navigating rules and unlikely friendships.

Aggie, a pale-skinned, rosy-cheeked child, is "very excited" to live alone, but there's a problem: her new house is haunted. A shapeshifting "ghost follow[s] her everywhere," never giving her any alone time. Frustrated, Aggie establishes ground rules: "No haunting after dark. No stealing my socks." Aggie's attempt to set boundaries proves futile, forcing the pair into a spirited game of tic-tac-toe to win ownership of the house. A perpetual tie results in more edicts from Aggie; the ghost breaks "every single rule" that night, then departs the following day. A series of sequential art vignettes depict Aggie engaging in activities previously shared with the ghost, but she now feels "something [is] missing." She crafts one final, cleverly worded rule—"Don't ever visit me from time to time"—and reunites with her frenemy.

Forsythe's wry humor and whimsical illustrations are a masterclass in comedic timing. His signature watercolor, gouache, and colored-pencil art appears more muted here, enhancing key moments and visual gags through strategic switches in palette. The page-turn to Aggie and the ghost's melodramatic stare-down, illustrated entirely in shades of terracotta, is so effective that Forsythe (Pokko and the Drum; Mina) uses it twice. Remarkable character design remains central to Forsythe's storytelling; the titular duo's opposing teardrop silhouettes reinforce that they are at odds. Fans of Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen's collaborations are likely to appreciate Forsythe's style while introverts will surely sympathize with Aggie's efforts. —Cristina Iannarino, children's book buyer, Books on the Square, Providence, RI.

Discover: A solitary child and her rule-breaking ghost roommate learn the value of compromise in this cheeky picture book. -- Shelf Awareness - (starred review) * 8/29/25 *
Aggie’s new house is haunted. She’d been excited to live on her own, but now “the ghost followed her everywhere.” Setting rules for it (“No haunting after dark. No stealing my socks. And no more eating all the cheese”) only leads to broken rules. A frustrated Aggie challenges the ghost to a game of tic-tac-toe; if it loses, it will have to move out. The game goes on so long that they forget why they were playing, but more house rules being made and broken leads to the ghost finally disappearing. Is it gone for good? And is that really what Aggie wants? Forsythe (Pokko and the Drum, rev. 1/20; Mina, rev. 1/22) introduces another smart female protagonist who reassesses her needs, learns how to problem solve, and mostly gets what she wants (introverts, the clever ending is for you). The story’s repetition and brief sentences will appeal to beginning readers, the tone is droll and slightly edgy, and the balance between the text’s pace and the spot, single, and double-page-spread art is nicely measured—particularly at page-turns. As for the expressive characters, Aggie’s gnome-like appearance is endearing, with the shapeshifting ghost a whimsical counterpart. Forsythe’s style of aesthetically pleasing textured watercolor, gouache, and colored-pencil illustrations features a soft palette of fall colors, especially fitting for this slightly spooky tale (readers will enjoy spotting the ghost or its eye throughout). -- 9/1/2025 * Horn Book *
* The third picture book from Forsythe confirms the author-illustrator’s trademark style, marked by
whimsical storytelling, absurd humor, and surprising page-turns.... Forsythe’s wry text is tight and deadpan, set against a richly rendered setting of softly blended peaches and blues, a bit more stripped down than in previous titles, holding a tone that is at once inviting and immersive—but with a gentle edge.... A subtle, sweet friendship story from a true original coming into his full picture-book powers. -- Booklist -- (starred review)   * July 2025 *
[T]he book as a whole successfully leans more toward weird than pedantic, eschewing a familiar friendship storyline for one that plenty of introverted youngsters will find resonant. There’s lots of potential here for beginning readers, with stealthy repetition, short but guiding sentences, and a steady, compelling pace, all elevated by snarky humor. -- BCCB * June 2025 *
A witty year-round ghost tale that delivers a wonderfully unconventional conclusion.  -- Kirkus * June 15, 2025 *
[A] book that captures the dance of unlikely bonds and a way to move from a place of acceptance.  -- Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW * 5/12/2025 *
Poor Aggie was really looking forward to living all on her own, but that proves to be impossible when she discovers that her new house is haunted by a rather persistent, rule-breaking ghost. Not only does the ghost refuse to leave Aggie alone, but he also will not abide by any of her requests, defiantly choosing to haunt after dark, steal Aggie’s socks, and eat all the cheese. Even an epic game of tic-tac-toe and a pronouncement by the Man-Faced Owl can’t solve their living situation until one day the ghost is just . . . gone. And Aggie is thrilled with her new solitude, but after a few days, she realizes she might be missing something. She wanders out into the rain to let the ghost know she has one more rule—“Don’t ever visit me from time to time”—a condition the ghost does break so the two have some time together. The book makes clear, however, that these truly are only occasional visits—“though it would be nice to say they became the best of friends, they did not.” That bit of bite tempers what could have been a treacly ending, and the book as a whole successfully leans more toward weird than pedantic, eschewing a familiar friendship storyline for one that plenty of introverted youngsters will find resonant. There’s lots of potential here for beginning readers, with stealthy repetition, short but guiding sentences, and a steady, compelling pace, all elevated by snarky humor. The illustrations, rendered in watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil, share a color palette and style with Jon Klassen’s The Skull (BCCB 7/23), and the blurred, fluid textures have an almost glow-like effect that is at times eerie and other times comforting, matching the dual tones of the text. This would serve as an excellent bridge between Drago’s sweet supernatural picture books (Gustavo the Ghost, BCCB 9/20, Vlad the Fabulous Vampire, BCCB 9/23) and Klassen’s aforementioned early reader.  KQG -- BCCB * June 2025 *