All the wonderful goodness of this story is how the theme of being yourself has been illustrated in a manner that takes the story in a fresh new direction.. The story is cute, but we’ve seen it before. Wolfgang is a ghost who loves spooky things, and has worked very hard to become scary like his idol. But he also likes flowers, stargazing and being with his meadow friends hugging all the trees (even the trees with eyes). So Wolfgang in the Meadow is happy. But when he learns his idol is retiring after 999.5 years haunting the castle, he tries out for the position of successor in that half year that is left before the spook of spooks retires. When he wins (he spins fast, possesses the most ancient creature), things are not as rosy as he thought they would be. 
So now about those illustrations. They are clever, cute, funny, sweet, spooky and colorful. I haven’t seen so many colors since the last time I watched the Rose Bowl parade on TV! They are everywhere! The colors just explode off the page. Even the black and dark colors are bright and expressive. The whites, too, are there to just grab you. The details are crowded and wonderful, too. They are another character (color and details) allowing for it all to come together. It is a wonderful combination of goodness.
Lenny Wen made probably my favorite not-Halloween-but-could-be-Halloween book for 2024. I just have to wait until mid-July for the physical copy to come out so I can spoil all my friends, family and library with copies. Until then, I will read my online reader copy again. Author of Old Friends and Spicy Spicy Hot!
