The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman; illustrated by Dave McKean

The Graveyard Book is a haunting story about a boy named Nobody (Bod) Owens. When he is a toddler his whole family is murdered by a man named Jack; luckily Bod escapes to the graveyard down the street. Mr. and Mrs. Owens, ghosts in the graveyard, agree to raise him as their own son. Although he is human, he receives the freedom of the graveyard and is graced with the secrets of the ghosts. The story revolves around Bod’s many adventures in the graveyard and small village with ghouls, witches, and school bullies. He learns many lessons from his guardian Silas and his teacher Miss Lupescu, and he is rescued from quite a few sticky situations. All the while Bod is still being hunted by Jack. The tale has many strong and powerful characters that help shape Bod’s life and education in the graveyard. Readers witness Bod’s journey of growing into a young man until he is able to leave the graveyard and live on his own. Gaiman’s style of writing fills the reader with wonder and a sense of mystery. The story pulls together strongly at the end and even has a surprise twist that will keep readers guessing. Gaiman weaves a story that will fascinate and engage readers young and old.

I absolutely loved reading this book and I loved the illustrations too! The same illustrator who illustrated The Wolves in the Walls for Gaiman also did this book. They have collaborated on many novels together, including Coraline. I read this for my class and was surprised to hear that a number of my fellow students didn't like the book at all, a lot of them felt it was a lower read, maybe for 5th & 6th graders! I completely disagree, and would love to find out who else loved the book like me! I feel it is a read that could be read easily by 5th graders, but that high schoolers and adults will enjoy the book as well. If anyone else has read this I would love to hear your comments on the book! It recently won the Newbery Award, and I can see why. I love Gaiman's style and felt the whole book tied together beautifully.

The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave McKean

I just read The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Dave McKean. He is probably most famous for his graphic novels, Coraline (which is out in theatres now), and his newest The Graveyard Book (The Newbery Winner...I will review this one later).




The Wolves in the Walls is an absolutely terrifying story! The illustrations add a very eerie quality to the story, but are fascinating to look at, they seem to be collages mixed with drawings, and maybe even photographs. Here is a sample of one of the pages of the stories I found on Amazon:

Lucy starts to hear things in the walls and tells her Mom, Dad, and Brother that there are Wolves in the walls...her Mom says it must be mice, her Dad says it must be rats, and her Brother says it must be bats, but they all agree that if "the wolves come out of the walls, it's all over!!" To Lucy's dismay no one seems to know "what" is all over. The Wolves do come out of the walls and Lucy and her family flee down to the garden. The Wolves take over their home and her parents and brother discuss moving to different countries, but Lucy just wants to live in their home again. Lucy finally convinces her family to go and live in the walls of their home. Once her family sees the Wolves wearing their clothes, playing her brothers video games, and getting jam all over everything, they decide they are going to rightfully take their home back!! Once they come out of the walls the Wolves yell "And when the people come out of the walls, it's all over!!"

I really enjoyed the story, but then again I quite like scary, strange, and weird stories!! I don't think I would recommend this to young children who are easily scared! I would recommend to older children...maybe ages 7 and up! Having the book in the picture book area will cause confusion! And there could be kids out there who really enjoy strange and wild stories like this one!!