The Canterville Ghost Paperback

An American family buys an English country house and flatly refuses to be frightened by the ghost who has haunted it for three centuries. Wilde turns the usual haunted-house story inside out: the Otis family treat the bloodstain as a cleaning problem and the clanking chains as a hardware fault, until Sir Simon de Canterville is reduced to sulking. What begins as farce shifts, in the closing chapters, towards something quieter about forgiveness and rest. At 96 pages this is the shortest of Wilde's fictions and among the easiest to hand to a younger reader. Worth noting: • Wilde's comic ghost story in a slim 96-page paperback • The Otis family versus Sir Simon, whose old tricks stop working • Humour drawn from American briskness meeting English tradition • Short enough for one evening or a single class period Suitable for younger readers, teachers planning short texts and Wilde collectors, published by Fingerprint! Publishing and available from Boipoka.