The Beasts of Clawstone Castle

Brother and sister Rollo and Madlyn are sent to live temporarily with their Great Uncle Sir George and his sister Emily. It's just for the summer, but Sir George and Emily have enough problems, as they have hardly any paying customers coming to tour their rather shabby castle. It's hard to get any attention when the upstart new owners of nearby Trembellow Towers have bought up all the good antiques for their own museum.
Madlyn and Rollo come up with a superb idea of hiring a collection of ghosts to terrify the visitors, which people really like. Soon the castle is making money, which Sir George uses to care for his beloved herd of rare white cattle, but being the only herd of its kind gains them the notice of horrible people.

The quirky show more ghosts are pure Ibbotson, but the overall theme of this story is about treating animals humanely. show less

Om två syskon som ska tillbringa sommaren hos några äldre släktingar medan föräldrarna är i USA och jobbar ihop välförtjänta pengar. Också på slottet saknas pengar och syskonen kommer på idén att ta hjälp av riktiga spöken för att locka fler besökare. Planen funkar men tyvärr finns det andra som vill utnyttja samma idé och som framför allt inte vill varken barnen, slottet eller slottets stolthet: den vita koflocken väl. När korna försvinner får barnen och spökena ett helt annat uppdrag än de tänkt sig...

Spännande, sorglig, rolig, medryckande med karaktärer man verkligen känner för. Precis det där som gör Eva Ibbotsons böcker så speciella innehåller också den här boken. Stundtals är den ganska show more mörk, men också det är karaktärisktiskt på ett mycket possitivt sätt. show less

Madlyn and Rollo have been sent to stay with their aunt and uncle for the summer. When they arrive at Clawstone Castle, they discover that the castle is in trouble. Tourists have all but stopped visiting and the money is running out. And it's important to have money for the upkeep of the wondrous, rare white cattle that live on the grounds. With the help of a ghostly uncle, Madlyn and Rollo assemble a team of spectres and ghouls to help them bring visitors to the castle... but will it be enough to save them??

I really enjoyed this book. The characters are well-developed and likeable, especially the ghosts. Although the description of the ghosts is a bit gruesome at times, you get to know and love them. Many twists and turns in the plot show more keep the action moving forward... Just when you think things are going to be okay, something new comes along and Madlyn & Rollo are faced with a new problem.

Highly recommended! show less

A fun adventure with ghosts, castles, and unique cattle.

Publishers Weekly
There's more spooky hilarity in store for fans of Ibbotson's previous ghost stories (Dial-a-Ghost; The Great Ghost Rescue). However, animal lovers may have trouble digesting some of the darker moments of this book. While their parents are in America, British siblings 11-year-old Madlyn and nine-year-old Rollo stay at Clawson Castle, an estate owned by the children's mild-mannered Great-Aunt Emily and Great-Uncle George. Uncle George takes great pride in his snow-white cattle, but unless more money can be earned by attracting tourists to the castle, the precious herd (and the castle) may be lost. Madlyn suggests that they draw more visitors by filling the castle with ghosts. Business booms after they hire a crew of show more frightening phantoms-a bloody bride, a skeleton taxi driver, a severed circus lady, a pirate and a rat that gnaws at his heart, and a Scottish pair of feet that dance to Highland reels (all cunningly depicted in Hawkes's illustrations). But when Uncle George's cows are kidnapped, it is up to the children to save them from the clutches of a greedy doctor, who mutilates critters for fun and profit. The book offers a plethora of tangled threads and comic characters and perhaps more gore than is customary for the author. However, things end on an up note: there are no serious injuries to the protagonists (human or otherwise) and the villains get their just deserts. Ages 10-up. (Aug.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. show less

Two kids named Madlyn and Rollo go to Clawstone Castle their mother and father are going away for a month and they are visiting their Uncle George. He lives in a castle Clawstone. One day they see cows; white mysterious cattle they find out that some guys are taking the cattle away. They need to help the cattle. They have met ghosts in the castle and think that the ghosts can help. They and there ghost friends go away in a car and drive to an island. At the island Madlyn and Rollo (without the ghosts) visit Mr. Manners. They beg him to let the cattle go free for he was the one who stole the cattle he refuses and they havn't even started their task.
At the end they succeed along with there friend Ned and the ghosts.