The Haunted Playground - Novel #1

The Book
Tan, S. (2008). The Haunted Playground. Mankato, Minnesota: Stone Arch Books.

Summary
The Haunted Playground is about a boy named Gavin who loves to use his metal detector to hunt for treasures on the beach and in playgrounds. One day Gavin stumbles across a playground unlike any other, this playground seems to swallow up any treasures that it might have contained. In this playgound there are also mysterious children that come out to play once it gets dark and the playground light comes on. One night Gavin loses his watch in the playground and spends many hours looking for it until a girl named Andrea tells him to come and get it. Andrea and the other children play keep away with Gavin and his watch for many hours until they finally give it back. Gavin is now even more intrigued by the playground and wonders where the kids have come from that play there every night. Gavin visits the playground and plays with the children long into the night many more times until one night Andrea shows him all the treasures the playground contains and starts a game of finders keepers. Gavin soon discovers that this game is too good to be true and a race against time ensues as he must get out of the playground before the light goes out or else he will be trapped in the playground forever.

Response
This book was really interesting and slightly creepy. After reading Shaun Tan's The Arrival I was curious how his writing would be in a longer more textual book. I actually really enjoyed Tan's writing, it was quite simple but descriptive enough to give me a visual of what was happening and keep me in suspense. Not suprisingly Tan's illustrations were amazing. They were quite intricate and added an eerie sense to the story, which was a nice touch. This book seemed to have a clear message to me which was to obey your parents rules and never let your curiosity get the best of you. This book would be great for young readers who are interested in fantasy, mystery and the supernatural. It includes a glossary of words that may be difficult for younger children to understand and I think this was also a great thing to add. It would also be fun for young writers to use in a classroom or individually as it includes writing prompts and questions to think about and discuss, whether it be on paper or as a group depends on the setting.

Awards received/ Reader's advisory information
To my knowledge this book has not received any awards. It's theme is one of fantasy and the supernatural with a touch of mystery. I think this book would be most appropriate for children aged 7-11 due to it's content. It's reading level is quite simple but the content may be a little scary for some younger children. This book could also be used as a novel study and it contains some guiding questions in the back that could be used for this purpose.