I really enjoyed the story and the art was pretty. However I find it lacked closure and some things left unexplained. It's also fit more with middle grade compared to children as the story is pretty dark.

This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

This was a different kind of story, beautifully illustrated by Sara Richard in almost day-glo colors, with a swirling impressionistic style reminiscent in some parts, of van Gogh's rather impressionistic The Starry Night. Not that Van Gogh ever liked that painting! But let's not get too pretentious: the images were lovely and had an inherent ghostliness in them and still carried the dark threat of a deep night. If that's what the artist was aiming for, she nailed it!

The story is short (less than fifty pages), but it would have dragged had it been longer. It's just long enough. The animals see this young ghost wandering aimlessly through their forested, swampy world and discuss her raison d'être. The owl decides to do more than this, and it leads to an interesting tale since both the ghost and the owl have a backstory, and it seems that each one crosses paths with the other in interesting ways.

I really enjoyed the simplicity of the story which couches a slightly more complex tale within, and the whole thing comes together in finely-wrought style. It has ups and down, and not predictable ones either, and it has some great story-telling. I liked it a lot and I recommend it as a worthy read.

This book is beyond beautiful, every page is a work of art. I have been a fan of artist Sara Richard for several years and love her owl designs so when I heard she was collaborating on an illustrated book I was very excited to see the outcome.
The Ghost, The Owl is a simple but very effective parable about the importance of helping others, and the story is beautifully and simply told by Franco. In the woodlands one day, a lost and confused ghost appears, unable to figure out where she came from or how she got here, she is relieved when an owl offers to try to help her find her way home, despite the disapproval of the other woodland creatures. Their journey will take them into danger, before they will find the answers they seek, and will take the reader on a journey too, from fear and sadness to the obligatory happy ending.
The artwork throughout is simply stunning,the creatures appear incredibly natural and alive, yet still have character, and the use of colour to create and highlight emotion, especially in some of the "scarier" moments is perfect.
The book may be aimed at a younger reader, but there is a universal appeal to it that I am sure will make it popular with all ages. The illustrations are so beautiful that I would recommend the book on that basis alone, but paired with such a simple yet moving story, it means that this book is one that belongs in every home.

3.25-3.5 Stars
A short but inspiring story about helping others, being true to yourself, and how life is interconnected. Whimsical but intricate artwork, especially of the wildlife, that goes from light and airy to dark and ferocious quickly. It's different, which makes it worth a look.

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Beautifully beautifully illustrated and colored, and very short.
One day a spirit appears in the swamps and a kind owl tries to help her find out where she came from and how she got there. The one big thing to take out of this story is kindness. Someone helped the owl when he was young and lost his parents after a storm and he has been paying forward that kindness ever since. The ghost is lucky to have him on her side. Would recommend.

This is an amazing graphic novel, so beautifully illustrated, of an owl who helps a ghost find her home, so to speak. The owl has been helping since he himself was rescued and helped when he was an owlet.

If I say to much about this very short graphic novel, I give too much away, but look at these pages below. Look at that art. It fairly swirls around.

The only issue I have with this book is the threat to the owl, that is built up half-way through the book, either it wasn't a real threat, or there is something left out of the ending. Either way, it should be addressed.

All in all, a good, quick read, and the art is so gorgeous.

<img class="alignnone wp-image-320 size-full" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Screen-Shot-2018-03-23-at-3.44.41-PM.png" alt="The Ghost and the Owl" />

<img class="alignnone wp-image-321 size-full" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Screen-Shot-2018-03-23-at-3.44.27-PM.png" alt="The Ghost, The OWl" />


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Beautiful artwork, beautiful story, and of course owls!

One evening, a ghost of a young girl appears in a swamp. She doesn't remember who she is or why she is there, and a kindly owl offers to help her.

A short graphic novel. I liked the artwork, but wasn't a fan of how the ghost was drawn. Everything else was excellent though.

A simple and quick read. A ghost needs to find closure. An owl offers to help, despite the fact that animals are not to interfere in human affairs. As they search for answers about the ghost, they are led to a nearby cabin, where a human is in danger.

Good for older kids. This story has a great message of kindness, but gets a little dark.

This comic is a pretty short story, it's only 53 pages, so if you are looking for a quick read I would recommend it. The story itself isn't that complex. An owl meets a ghost girl and tries to help her, and is reprimanded from The Owl Parliament, but he does it anyway. I found the Owl Parliament to be really interesting and I wanted to know more about that but we don't get that in this story. You are just supposed to accept how things are in the animal world and move along with the story. It just seems like there needs to be more there.

We do learn who the Ghost girl is towards the end of the story, and I have to say I'm a little disappointed. I thought it was going to go one way and then what we actually find out was a little anti-climatic. I also feel like the story with the woman and the man who wants her land wasn't fleshed out enough. Why does he want her land? Why does she live in this house? What is the background with that story? It just felt like in terms of story this one was lacking.

However, since this is a comic, I can be swayed a little when it comes to good art. The artwork in this comic was beautiful and it made me want to keep on reading to see the next panel. It was very colorful and had a beautiful almost painting-like quality to the style. I really loved it and was really captured by it. Especially all the ethereal swirls that were used for The Ghost.

This comic kind of loses me with the story, but I thought it was awesome to look at. I think it you don't mind a plot with some minor holes but love to look at gorgeous artwork, then this one is for you.

*I received a free egalley copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A short graphic novel about a ghost and an owl who come together to help someone important to them. I enjoyed the story, though did feel like some details could have been embellished some more. But the illustrations... oh my goodness! The illustrations were beyond stunning in this graphic novel. I found myself reading the page then just stopping and taking in all the small details and vivid coloring. This is going to be a strong recommend from me. I simply loved it, and I am definitely hoping this isn't the last i'll be seeing of these two characters.

A beautiful story of a lost ghost and an owl who helps her, but who also finds a lost connection to humans along the way. The artwork is as equal in its beauty and effectiveness of adding to the tale. "I may just be an owl...bit...I have friends.." You'll know how powerful this is when you see it for yourself.

What a marvelous little graphic novel this is! I was expecting a simple ghost story when I picked up The Ghost, The Owl but what I got was a surprisingly dark tale about man and nature. The story is told from the point of view of the owl, who decides to help a lonely ghost.

The highlight of this graphic novel, of course, is the artwork which was gorgeous. Every page is extremely detailed and begs to be admired, I spent a lot of time marveling at how beautifully the story is illustrated. I loved the mix between very realistically drawn animals while the world and the non-animal characters were very whimsical, every page had a dream-like feel to it. The color palette was wonderful, brilliant colors that were a feast for the senses.

I wish the same amount of detail could have gone into the story itself, which wasn’t bad, but it was pretty simple and not all that detailed. While there is a major conflict it’s sort of glossed over, you get just enough to get the gist of the story but the world was so interesting I would’ve really loved if there was more to it. It’s an extremely fast read that can be done within fifteen minutes and most of that time will likely be spent looking at the pictures than reading any of the dialogue.

Even so, the manga is definitely an experience and one that I can comfortably recommend for all ages, though it may be a tiny bit scary for younger readers. Even if it won’t go down as the most memorable graphic novel out there, I do feel it’s worth the price of admission for the art alone.

The Ghost, The Owl
Franco
This is a beautifully drawn poignant story about friendship and the ties that bind. A young girls ghost is seen wandering the woods, it's unknown where she comes from. An owl takes pity on the poor waif and attempts to help her find where she comes from. The story is about sacrifice forgiveness and bravery. The pictures are beautifully rendered and the meaning of the story is profound.

The title describes the book. It is a full story, with the title characters being given a full exploration, and then developing into the full story. It is a bit over the top in dramatics, all questions are answered, but still too dramatic. The illustrations are interesting, but to me overly done at times, it is difficult to tell what's happening at first look, example: the fire scene. The Ghost makes me think of manga, which being honest I don't care for, but the animals and Owl are great. I read a lot of graphic novels, this just didn't do it for me, but may be great for others hence my rating.

A short little story of a girl (or rather, the ghost of her) ending up lost in a swamp and the animals, especially the owl, who help her discover who she was.

This, to me, was 100% carried by the wonderful illustrations by Sara Richard. Usually I'm not much for this particular style (I know very little about art and couldn't tell you what it's called, but I know it isn't something I usually enjoy very much) but here it just works. Combined with the simplicity in the writing of the story, there's just something utterly magical about it. Also carries a wonderful message about helping others that we should all learn from and, I'm sure, something else that I haven't figured out yet.

Beautifully illustrated, this graphic novel lets the tale flow across the entire page without the use of traditional panels. It’s a short and sweet story with a hint of darkness, that leaves itself open to sequels (hopefully there will be!). Adults may want something longer and grittier but older children will probably enjoy it.

Lovely colour scheme and pretty art. Story sort of felt too cutesy, too sweet to be true for my taste. But the simplicity of the themes and dialogue was still charming.

It's a short story of an owl helping a lost spirit find her way. It's simple and goes by quickly. I do think it is highly worth the read just for the artwork alone. The color palette is just wonderful, and Ms. Richard draws forest animals quite beautifully. The style overall is very unique.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Three stars exclusively for Sara Richard's illustrations, because the story is underdeveloped and mediocre.

And even Richard's illustrations, though absolutely amazing when depicting the forest animals, were a bit incongruous when it came to the ghost girl, who looked like some kind of manga fanart.

The dialogue was very simplistic and sometimes grammatically unsound, like when the owl refers to something as "more strange" instead of stranger.

All in all, Richard's art deserved a much better story.

Full review to be published.
The world is filled with surprises. You never know what you may find when searching for the next good reading, and the surprise factor is always a good point in favor of your next choice. “The Ghost, The Owl,” written by Franco and with art by Sara Richard gave me what I was looking for before I even realized what that was.