The Ghost of Dibble Hollow

by May Nickerson Wallace, Orin Kincade (Illustrator)

Out of the graveyard comes a ghost--the ghost of ten-year-old Miles Dibble. "I've been waiting a long time for you to come to Dibble Hollow, Cousin," he tells Pug. "Now you must help me find that lost money."
From that moment on the ghostly Miles leads Pug from one spooky adventure to another.
All the while he follows the clues to the weirdest treasure hunt with the ghost of Dibble Hollow.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Childrens, Fantasy, Ghosts, Adventure, Historical

155 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

Reviews

[Jim]

Old Review, 2007: 4 stars. I read this years ago, losing it when we moved when I was 8, but it was one of my favorites & I remember it pretty well. I want to re-read it but even a used copy is $20 on Amazon. Maybe someday!

Review, Feb2012: I managed to get a copy through BookMooch last year, but never got around to reading it until today. Wow! I gave it an extra star because it is fantastic for a kids book. Sure, it's simplistic, but it has a lot to it. There's a mystery, a ghost, & some excellent values in it. Very interesting while making some great life points & a happy ending on top of it all. Perfect for kids around 10 or so.

The setting is neat, a summer out in the country with bikes & a dog. The mother inherits the old family farm, devoid of animals but rich in land & near a small town. The adventure begins when the family shows up to spend the summer & the boy meets the ghost, another boy, who is stuck until the money he had is found. While there are dates, it's easy to imagine it happening at any time. There's a lot of fun stuff too, like the hide out, a hidden diary, & a cipher. What boy could ask for any more?
;-)

[Joy Jernigan]

I bought and read this book in elementary school and couldnt put it down.
I have re-read it several times over the years until it actually fell apart. It was probably my favorite ghost story as a child.
When I had kids of my own, I named my first son Miles and explained to him where i got his name from when he was about 8 years old.
Of course he wanted to hear all about the ghost of Miles Dibble so I set out in search of buying a copy of the book.
I had no luck. This was back in the early nineties when the internet was still in its infancy and buying books online wasnt common.
I ended up getting a tattered and dog eared copy from the library and every night at bedtime we would read a chapter.
He still remembers this with a smile.
Too bad its out of print. Its a wonderful kids book.

[❀⊱RoryReads⊰❀]

The mystery and the ghost are pretty good, but this story hasn't aged well. An unpleasant thread of misogyny towards the main character's younger sister spoiled the book for me. There are newer books in this genre for middle grade readers without this annoying aspect.

[Jill]

I read this book in 5th grade and loved it!! Thirty years later something reminded me of the storyline and I realized that I had no memory of the books' title. I started searching garage sales and thrift shops hoping to come across it, but to no avail. I then searched the Scholastic archives hoping that if I came across the title it would jog my memory. I had about given up hope of ever rediscovering this wonderful book, when suddenly, there it was at the bottom of a pile of old paperbacks in a secondhand store. Hallelujah!! I felt like I'd won the lottery! I read it cover to cover that very day and easily remembered why I loved it so much the first time...it's a good read!!

[Carmela]

I read this book when I was 8 years old(1977)in my school library.Then I looked for it again for 30 years.Finally found it on e-bay and wanted it so bad,I paid 30 bucks for it.A dollar a year I guess and worth 10 times that to me.

[Cheri Dickey-whitish]

One of my absolute favorite books from childhood that I couldn't forget. This story was an inspiration for my lifelong passion of researching old newspapers and talking to people to put together the pieces of true stories from the past. I just read excerpts from this book to a fifth grade class and they really enjoyed it. Too bad it's out of print.

[Ryan]

I read, and re-read, and then re-read this story in the fourth grade. I liked it so much, I wrote my own story (tightly based on the book) called "The Ghost of McKinley Manor". It inspired adventure and mystery with every page! I use some elements from the story in my current writing without even realizing it! So great!

[Kelley Stoneking]

I loved this book as a kid--read it over and over and over!--and it's still a good read as an adult. :)

[Cheryl]

Finally found a copy to read online at openlibrary. I didn't have high expectations despite the glowing reviews because I never liked ghost stories or mysteries, as a child or now. But this is so much more.

There's the feud with the neighbors, but wanting to make friends with Priscilla. The siblings who only kinda get along sometimes. The fact that the ghost is 'real' and we don't waste time with all sorts of haunting happenings. The technology of the second well. Mom as more of a handyman than Dad. Expressions and idioms (we said 'crimenitly' ourselves, which is similar to the word in the book). Light crisp molasses cookies (singular cooky, not cookie). The key to the cipher, which a youngster could figure out with a little patience. The nuanced characters. The reason Miles doesn't tag along with Pug everywhere. Etc.

Iow, I'm not surprised at the reviewers who said that they reread this many times, or remembered it fondly, or that they recall their teacher reading it to them. It would have been threadbare from my rereads, too. Highly recommended for children and the young at heart.

[Laura]

The Ghost of Dibble Hollow is my ALL TIME favorite book. It's the only book that I remember from my childhood. My son is reading my copy now. He's about 1/2 through & the pages are falling out. As we put some back in order, we realized that 2 pages are missing! We're missing 145/146 & the last page 155. Is there any chance someone can send photo(s) of the pages? I can make you a friend so you'll have my e-mail if you can do this for me. My son had to read a mystery for his book report this month so I recommended this to him and so far he LOVES it too! We're so disappointed to find pages missing after all this time! In addition to the fact it's late for him to start another book for his report.

[Kari]

I love this book. I vividly remember my sixth grade teacher reading this book to our class. It has always stuck with me so about 10 years I started searching for it and found it in a rare book store. Every October I read it to my elementary students and they love it too.

[Elizabeth]

I remember reading this book for the first time in the 5th grade. When I found it on e-bay I just had to have it to add to my collection. I re-read it and it was just as wonderful as it was the first time. It brought back memories of my early years of reading. An excellent book that I highly recommend for any young reader.

[Denise]

this is mu umpteenth time reading this book in the last 55 years! I still love it!

[Lisa]

The Ghost of Dibble Hollow. Just seeing that title brings a smile to my face. This was my favorite book as a kid. In fact, I still have my original copy from 1971; I was ten. I recently decided to read it again.
The story centers around a young boy, Pug Allen, and his adventures in the country at an old farmhouse, Dibble Hollow, that his mother has inherited. His family, consisting of his father and mother, his sister Helen and their half-grown beagle, Ricky, have decided to spend the summer in the house.
Strange things begin to happen in and around the house and it doesn't take long for Pug to meet 'the ghost' of Dibble Hollow; Miles Dibble.
Now realize that this book was first published in 1965. So, we're not talking modern era paranormal ghost story here. We're talking good old-fashioned kid-friendly ghost story. You know, the weather-vane moving in no wind, the empty rocking chair rocking, the door unexpectedly closing, type of ghost story.
Digging for hidden money, deciphering coded messages, trying to solve a 60-year old mystery; this book has everything to keep a pre-teen interested.
This book is out of print, but if you ever run across a copy, don't even hesitate, just purchase it.

[Juushika]

2.5 stars, rounded down. A boy's summer vacation at his mother's childhood home is greatly enlivened by the appearance of a young ghost with an mystery to solve. I love the cognitive dissonance and unexpectedly effective nostalgia of a haunted summer, but the actual execution is fairly textbook: the atmosphere is more fun than evocative, the mystery is gently engaging, and the pacing is predictable and effective. What's most striking about this book the ways in the which it feels dated: sometimes quaintly, like the changed idioms and the spelling of "cooky"; sometimes unpleasantly, in the tiresome gender and family dynamics; but particularly in that Bradburian nostalgia for a lost, idealized, all-American, boy's country summer--but without Bradbury's remarkable intensity. It's not a nostalgia I value or share.

[Carol Storm]

Imagine Tom Sawyer as a ghost -- the madness, mischief and melancholy of an American odyssey into the unknown.

[Elizabeth]

Scholastic book from order in grade school. 45 cents. 4*** mainly for nostalgia. Probably as child would have been a 5. I know I would have read over and over.

[Heather]

I loved this book as a kid who was, like the main character, growing up in a rural area in the country. Best of all I liked how the kids had secret codes and a hideout. It's not really scary, since the ghost is the friendly sort (though his death was gruesome); but the mystery that unfolds is very well put together. I just reread this, and while I wasn't as enthralled as an adult as I was as a kid, I can't deny it's a well-written book, if dated (with Mom always in the kitchen making food while Dad is working, and girls having to wear dresses). It reads like an episode of Andy Griffith, with everyone, young and old, learning a valuable lesson about how to treat others and all's well it ends well. I think it would make for a good children's movie.

[David]

I loved this book as a kid and it has stayed with me. In fact, my interest in the 18th century and the Revolution was largely inspired by this book. It also continues to inspire me as a writer. If I am ever blessed enough to have a son I would like to name him Miles, but my wife doesn't like the name :( I noticed one review that calls the book misogynistic because of Pug's relationship with his sister. While I don't recall the part the reviewer was referring to (maybe it seemed unremarkable to me, a boy who grew up with sisters), but I don't believe the author--a woman herself--had any intention of promoting hatred of women.

[Pat]

Found this book in a Little Free Library and have really enjoyed it. Pug and his sister Helen get to spend the summer at the old house his mother inherited in Dibble Hollow. The old house comes complete with the ghost of Miles Dibble who was killed after hiding money. They need to find that money to help save the house next door where Miles’ old friend still lives with his grand daughter. Lots going on in the story and I think it aged rather well. There are still good people out there willing to lend a hand to help a neighbor.

[サラ ブロック]

This ghost story hinges on the 'social' interaction between the living main character Pug, and the ghost of Miles Dibble, who hid money on the way home from a fair but was attacked and killed before he could tell anyone where it was. I read the Scholastic edition when I was around 8 years old in 1968. The story impressed me with the realism of the author's depiction of summer and the moral resolution of Miles going on when his mission is finished.

[Carrie]

I read this book when I was a kid. I loved the concept of a ghost helping to find a lost treasure. Unfortunately the book belonged to one of my older sisters, so I’m not sure what happened to it. When I recently found it at an estate sale, I had to have it. And it was just as much fun as I remembered!

[Dean Moore]

This book has "haunted" me since 4th grade in the 70's. I finally found a used copy about five years ago, and it's a treasured item. this is probably my favorite book of my childhood, with Charlotte's Web and a few others. Its timeless.

[LuAnn]

Just the kind of story I like: kid's ghost story where people learn and grow! While implausible, there were several especially clever elements: Miles not knowing right from left, code, and Mr. Miller’s visitor.

[Laura]

It wasn’t the best plot line or writing… it was a book that my husband remembers reading in fourth grade, so we listened to it together while working on a puzzle. And for that quiet sharing, five stars :)

[Raven Dreadhowl]

Great book! Pug and his sister don't get along. Miles pops up all the time. He can. He's a ghost.

[Dr.N]

an elementary school teacher read this aloud to my class. I was riveted and couldn't wait until the next time she read to us.

[Artie]

As a young teen, I read and re-read this book. Re-read it as an adult too, and still loved it!

[Ann]

I loved this book as a 10 year old and still do now.

[David]

I read this book when I was a kid and always had a soft spot for it. By today's standards, it might seem lame, but back then, it was the greatest!