Coraline - Neil Gaiman

‘Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.’ – G. K. Chesterton With this delightful quote, we are ushered into the world of schoolgirl Coraline Jones. The Jones family has just moved into a very big, old house. With the natural curiosity that all young children possess, Coraline goes on an exploration of the house and its grounds. She discovers that her new flat contains fourteen doors, thirteen of which open and close. The fourteenth door is locked. With the turn of a black, rusty key, it opens onto a wall of red bricks. One day, however, Coraline ...  Read the complete review

Four words; I love this book. For anyone who has ever loved Roald Dahl, and all the spooky and delicious wonders he created, this book is defiantly for you. I was brought for me as a gift purely based on the fact that it was written by Neil Gaiman, and I am embarrassed to admit I hadn't even heard of it, but am certainly glad I gave it a go! Though it has been compared to Alice in Wonderland, I would not agree entirely as this story made far more sense, and it is still pretty far out. Coraline is an ordinary little girl like any other. She has a mother and a father, and moves house just like other girls do. But this is a house with a ...  Read the complete review

Coraline - Neil Gaiman I never really got very stuck into this book, but dont get me wrong i did quite enjoy it, and wanted to read on to discover the ending, but I wasn't hooked and wasn't as bothered to finish the book as i am with others. The blurb made it sound like a scary book, but I found it was exaggerated. The main character is Coraline a young girl who has just moved house, she is clever, determined, brave and not superstitious in the slightest. The other characters are her mother and father, who are well-meaning but dull, Miss Forcible and Miss Spink, two ancient women who used to be on the stage and who live in a flat in the same house ...  Read the complete review

I'm not nine years old etc, but I found this slightly chilling... An exciting little read, v. worthy children's story, but also slightly detached (like an action comic). So it's not a major classic or anything, - the idea of an imitated world is not obviously original - but it's well-handled, darkly fresh and is not predictable. It's matter-of-fact style shows its thinking for its audience, and I do wonder what it would be like to read it as a kid. At the same time, I hope he will use more of the advantages of the book form in future. The illustrations by Dave Mckean are of course, creepy and masterful in style, and I enjoyed them (with the story) even ...  Read the complete review

As abig fan of Neil Gaiman's adult books, I was recently given this book he has written for kids which has just been turned into a highly critical animation. At just under 200 pages of large text long, with full page pictures, I thought I'd flick through it especially as I have a certain interest in the children's book market. The story is that of a young girl (maybe 8 years old) who lives with her parents in an old house converted into 4 flats. Coraline is an adventurer in a childish sort of way, and a sort of free spirit character, who discovers one day that the old oak door in their flat that once led to the empty flat transports her into a magical ...  Read the complete review