Books with author Pete A. O'Donnell

There are ghosts waiting in the water and Tom has made a bargain with a crazy old man who claims to be a 300-year-old pirate. Captain Swift wants Tom to find the magic island where he hid his treasure.But the paperboy has his own plan, to sail to his dad in Florida, before he’s sent off to boarding school. So he’ll put up with Captain Swift’s stories, and his ill-tempered dog, while they fix the little boat that’ll take him there. But what if Tom starts to believe Swift, who knows more about his family than he should? Tom saw the ghosts and now nothing will ever be the same. History and magic collide as Swift tells his tale about the golden age of piracy and how he came to be cursed on the shores of Purgatory Cove.

From Publishers Weekly In O'Donnell's fetching first book, night is falling as Thomas and his teddy bear gaze outdoors. Listening to the wind shake the trees and rattle the windows, Thomas is frightened--"he imagined he could hear the howling of wolves." And then magical things begin to happen. A fox appears ("just like the one in the painting near his bed"), and when Thomas asks if there are wolves outside, the kind animal offers to take him to the wise white stag, who will know the answer. As if to allay the boy's apprehension, teddy suddenly grows into a large, furry bear on whose back Thomas rides through the night. The trio's nocturnal adventure finally quells Thomas's fears about any scary creatures that might be lurking in the darkness. Youngsters with active imaginations will find this fantastical journey equally comforting. The moon's luminous glow infiltrates O'Donnell's illustrations, which are every bit as winsome as his melodic story . Ages 4-7. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.