Coraline

Neil Gaiman; Dave McKean (Illustrator)

Though I work in a bookstore, I discovered 1 2 3 when my brother gave it to my one-year-old daughter with the intention of helping her learn to count. At first glance I thought it was a nice counting book with beautiful illustrations. Once we read it a couple times, though, I began to notice details I had missed that made reading this book so much more than reciting numbers.

Each page represents a number and also offers delightful hidden surprises. The number six, for example, stars Hansel and Gretel and six shiny sweets, six lollipops outside the witch’s house, six mushrooms in the yard, six white birds, and six cats sulking about. Every page is a scavenger hunt with tons of little details tucked into the nooks and crannies of the illustrations that reinforce that page’s number. Children (and their parents) will enjoy recognizing characters they know well, with spreads depicting scenes from fairy tales from Sleeping Beauty and Jack and the Beanstalk to The Red Shoes and Little Red Riding Hood. There are often characters from other stories slipped into the background, foreshadowing their dedicated page to come. If you look out the window of the Gingerbread Man’s kitchen, for example, you will see Jack’s beanstalk off in the distance and the Ugly Duckling’s pond on the horizon.

This is one counting book I won’t mind reading over and over because I find new details each time we read it. My daughter, at one, is captivated by the illustrations. She loves pointing out the different animals and details. I can only imagine that as she gets older, she will love the treasure-hunt aspects this book offers even more than I do. I think it will help make counting and learning math a lot of fun for her!

Format

Hardcover

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CRITICS HAVE SAID

“Now, if you’re thinking fondly of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, you’re on the wrong track. Neil Gaiman’s Coraline is far darker, far stranger, playing on our deepest fears. And, like Roald Dahl’s work, it is delicious. ”–Amazon

“This delightful, funny, haunting, scary as heck, fairy-tale novel is about as fine as they come. Highly recommended.”–Karin Snelson

” A magnificently creepy story for stouthearted kids who love a brush with the sinister, Coraline is spot on.”–Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“A truly creepy tale. Beware those button eyes!”–Family Fun Magazine

” An electrifyingly creepy tale likely to haunt young readers for many moons.”–Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“By turns creepy and funny, bittersweet and playful can be read quickly and enjoyed deeply.”–San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

“It has the delicate horror of the finest fairy tales, and it is a masterpiece.”–Terry Pratchett

“The most splendidly original, weird, and frightening book I have read, and yet full of things children will love.”–Diana Wynne Jones

“Beautifully spooky. Gaiman actually seems to understand the way children think.”–Christian Science Monitor

IF YOU LOVE THIS BOOK, THEN TRY:

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Corbett, Sue. 12 Again.. Dutton, 2002.

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Fleischman, Paul.The Half-a-Moon Inn.HarperCollins, 1980.

Gaiman, Neil. Coraline: Graphic Novel. Adapted and illus. by P. Craig Russell. HarperCollins, 2008.

Gaiman, Neil. The Graveyard Book. HarperCollins, 2008.

Gaiman, Neil.The Wolves in the Walls.HarperCollins, 2003.

Ibbotson, Eva. The Secret of Platform 11.Dutton, 1998.

Kennedy, Richard.Inside My Feet.HarperCollins, 1979.

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.Scholastic, 1998.

Sleator, William. Among the Dolls. Dutton, 1975.

Snicket, Lemony. The Bad Beginning. HarperCollins, 2000.

Wallace, Barbara Brooks. Peppermints in the Parlor. Atheneum, 1980.