Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Book No: 1
Title: Coraline
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Fantasy
Completed: 1/06/09
No. of Pages: N/A-Audio
Rating: 4/5*****

What a creepy little story; written for children it’s a fantasy tale adults will enjoy it too.

Coraline has moved with her parents into an old house that has been divided up into several flats. She is happy to spend her days exploring outside and meeting her new neighbors. On a rainy day with nothing to do Coraline explores her flat, and discovers a door that opens upon a brick wall. Her mother explains that it was closed up when the house was divided. Fascinated by this door Coraline decides to explore it one day when her dad is too busy working and her mom has gone shopping. Only this time when she opens the door it opens on a flat that is the mirror image of her own. Things seem a lot more fun on this side of the door, everyone is nicer to her, her room is prettier, everyone says her name correctly and even the food is tastier. Except for one problem, Coraline’s other mother and other father don’t seem to want to let her go back home to her real parents. They want to keep her forever and make her their own little girl. Worst of all they don’t have real eyes, just shiny black button eyes.

Lots of creepy little things that go bump in the night populate this book. But the best part of the book is Coraline herself. She is brave, even when she is most afraid; and above all she is clever. She is going to need all of that bravery and all of her brains to get herself back home because her real parents have disappeared and Coraline is the only one who can save them.

I can see my children really loving this book when they were younger. It’s full of lots of creepy rats, spooky mirrors and mysterious basements, trap doors and a mean ‘witch’. It’s also got a lot of humor in it. It reminded me a lot of Roald Dahl’s darker children’s books and my girls adored them. It might be a bit scary for really young children but most kids and adults will love it.