With art by Bernhard Oberdieck, story by Sigrid Heuck and Mark Holme. Music by Mark Holme.

Ladies and Gentlemen, witness the birth of a classic!

A circus ringmaster has an owl, that he bought as a baby from a zoo, in the hope that it would rid him of mice that eat the circus animal food. To protect it from the circus cat, the owl has to grow up in a cage and never learns how to fly.

The gardener of a rich castle owner buys the owl, thinking it will rid the castle of the plague of mice that his master thinks is a ghost. Left alone in the castle attic, the owl's lonely hoots are mistaken for another ghost, more troublesome than the first.

A mouse befriends the owl and, together, they fulfil their dreams. At its heart, The Castle Ghost is a charming children's story about overcoming our limitations, finding new friends, and fulfilling our potential.

For the first time since their creation, these wonderful images, by Bernhard Oberdieck, are brought together again in a new adaptation. As Mark says:

“The conventions of print publishing mean a picture book usually has only twenty-four, or thirty-two pages. Because of this, many of Bernhard's sublime images were discarded. The digital realm releases you from such constraints. The app has thirty-six pictures! Each one a gem. The backlit iPad screen really makes them sing. We can't wait for the new hi-res model.”

Without a doubt, finding illustrations of this quality is rare. Each picture took hundreds of hours – something seldom afforded today. Ladies and gentlemen, you now have them at your disposal, for a lifetime's pleasure, at a fraction of the print price.

Select iRead or Read-to-Me. Specially composed music sets the scene, touch and play narration tells the story. There is record-me reading, with auto-playback. Children can increase their confidence in reading, and instantly hear their progress on short, and long, sections.*

Navigation is made easy with the app's Story Map page. Icons take the reader to any of the stories's eleven scenes. Each page has a miniature Story Map icon that leads back to the beginning.

On the Illustrations page, there are links to the Info page, including the app's support link. Get in touch, we'd love to hear what you think.

So, please, join the owl and the mouse in their app-adventure. They are waiting for you to take their journey with them, and all it takes is the press of a button.

*When recording, please allow a recording cycle to complete before starting another. When auto playback starts, it's OK to continue.