Rating: 
Summary: Think again Coraline
Review: This book is four stars because it has adventure and has imprtant life lessons to it. When I say important life lessons I mean that you shouldn't hate or say bad things about somebody, especially somebody you love, because you never know when that person can be taken away from you at any second. She (Coraline) likes to explore her brand new house (or flat which is what she calls it because she is British). She goes and explores everything, counts everything, even doors and windows. Except one door that won't open without a key. When she opens it, it is just a boring brick wall covering the whole door with nothing interesting or anything at all behind it, so she thought. Think again Coraline! I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fiction books and has an act of imagination as much as the book does. I gave the book four stars because it has a big work of good imagination. It is really easy to picture what your're reading with all the really specific, detailed, and descriptive words.
The illustrator of this book is Dave McKean and he puts really interesting pictures into the book, that help you picture better what is going on and how people and places might look. These pictures are funny and scary looking at the same time.
This book has fun pictures, descriptive words, and specific details, and is altogether a really GREAT book. Many of the characters in this book are real, fake, plastic, and just downright wierd, which makes it creepy. The setting has an out of this world theme, literally. The last thing is that this book has that grabs your attention is its great act of imagination and creativity. The author of the book has a real good imagination to come up with things like this. I can't wait to read another one of his books.
Rating: 
Summary: The book is good, the audio CD is wonderful.
Review: In addition to being a master storyteller, Neil has a wonderful speaking voice. It's always interesting to listen to an author read his own work, and particularly so when the author's also fun to listen to. Neil's performance on the audio CD is excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Coraline
Review: Coraline is a great book, especially if you like reading scary adventures. Neil Gaiman knows how keep the readers interest. Coraline is an independent girl, who likes discovering things. She is clever, and is an interesting character. When things are hard for her, she keeps going. Once again, this is a great book. Thanks for writing it, Neil Gaiman!
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Summary: Coral: beautiful, fragile, timeless beneath rolling waves
Review: Oh heavens. Nothing can be said about Coraline that hasn't already been said. It won the Hugo for best novella and a small country worth of other awards. Just read the blessed thing.
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Summary: For kids who will grow up into adults
Review: Yes, this book is spookier than most kids' books these days. That is a good thing. Kids have always liked Brothers Grimm style works, and the trend of the last couple decades of sugar-coating fairy tales have only appeared to increase the violence of teenage horror stories (witness the Friday the Thirteenth flicks, for example). As a story about a smart young girl who battles a fully imagined and quite frightening storybook villain, Coraline is top notch; and, as far as I am concerned, such stories should be far more common than they are.For a funnier, yet comparable, take on the same subject as Coraline, try The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett, a former collaborator of the author's. Coraline and The Wee Free Men are two different takes on the subject of one young girl fighting a particular kind of reality-altering villain. Both books are excellent.
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Summary: An Original and Chilling Ghost Story
Review: Coraline, the superior and imaginative ghost story written by Neil Gaiman, manages to be both a chilling lesson about the virtues of teaching children self-reliance, and a cautionary tale about learning to appreciate what one has been given, no matter how ordinary it may seem. Coraline is the child protagonist of the title. Bright and full of pluck and invention, Coraline is also at the precocious age where she has become a bother to her busy parents. When the family moves into a new house Coraline is left to her own devices. To pass the time, Coraline goes on trips exploring the house. During one of her expeditions, Coraline discovers a door which when opened leads to another house --- a house just like the one she and her family live in. In this "other house," Coraline meets her "other parents." Unlike Coraline's real parents, the other parents give Coraline the things she most desires. Something isn't right, though. Everything in this other house is the same, yet different. The other parents have buttons sewed in where their eyes should be and skin which is paper white. The other parents are also very anxious to have Coraline stay with them permanently. Although Coraline barely escapes the first time, she returns to the other house of her own free will a second time when her real parents are kidnapped by her other parents. Coraline's life-and-death game of wits with her other mother take up the electrifying last half of the story. When Coraline receives a hand at the end of the story it isn't a congratulatory one. I found myself startled by every little noise in my home after reading this segment. Coraline has been compared with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. I disagree with the comparison. Mr. Gaiman's story has far more in common with Japanese animator Hayao Miyazki's most recent cinematic masterpiece Spirited Away. Both Coraline and Spirited Away feature young girls who are disdainful of their parents. In both stories the parents are whisked away into a strange and terrifying spirit world. It is left up to the daughters to save their parents. A journey of self-awareness in which each child learns valuable lessons along the way ensues. Both stories create a genuine sense of danger for their protagonists. It is not readily clear how things will turn out for each child. A happy ending can't be seen waiting just around the bend. This sense of not knowing what may happen, while terrifying, also serves as a form of catharsis for children. Coraline is a short book. Not everything is easily explained. Mr. Gaiman, trusting the intelligence of children, leaves a great deal to the imagination. Rest assured, though, while his book may be a fast read, the images Mr. Gaiman creates will linger in the imagination long after Coraline has been finished. Preston McClear ...
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Summary: I'm not going to give this one to my grandchildren!
Review: Of course, I bought it for them in the first place. BUT, when I read it, it scared ME--and I think it would terrify THEM. There's something so very realistic about the Other Parents, something that lives in the nightmares of every child, and putting words and illustrations to it only makes it worse.
The writing is terrific, the mood darker than the belly of a cow, and though the ending is satisfactory--even happy--there's a shivery feeling left behind.
Of course, I still believe there are things under the bed, and in dark corners and at the ends of dark hallways, so perhaps I am not the best one to talk about frightening children. . . .
Rating:
Summary: Terrifying yet charming
Review: Dark fairy tale about a young girl named Coraline who is fond of exploring. One day when she is exploring her new house, she finds a doorway to another world. At first glance, this world seems to be just like Coraline's own, only more interesting, but she soon begins to suspect that something evil is waiting for her there. Coraline is a terrifying yet charming children's book that can be equally enjoyed by adults. Some parents may think this book is too scary for children but this is the kind of book kids really love. Not only is the book's plot highly entertaining but there is a great moral to the story as well. I've read a couple of Neil Gaiman's other books but Coraline is my favorite of them all. Gaiman's style works well with the children's book format and Dave McKean's illustrations match the tone of the book perfectly. I think this one will stay fresh in my memory for a long time.
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Summary: The new Alice
Review: I have always enjoyed the Narnia, Alice in Wonderland type books, so when I saw this at the store, I had to buy it. Every page was well written, exciting, new and frightening. Many books have been made that copy the style originally pioneered by
Lewis Carrol, but few have managed to convey the feelings of good and evil, confusion, and the world through the eyes of a child. I strongly encourage any adult to buy this book, although I might be careful about handing this book to any child. Some of the visual aspects are truly scary and maybe not for children that frighten easily. A possible exception might be for parents planning on using the book as a read out loud to small children, since that should alleviate any fear.
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Summary: A Novel that Rewards Adults and Children
Review: Neil Gaiman's splendid CORALINE (now in trade paperback) addresses age-old themes -- the loss of parents (or the fear of it), the concept of courage, the flaws and strengths which enable heroism to occur, the power of the imagination to preserve sanity under duress -- with a story that never loses momentum, not for a moment. It is very rare for me to complete even a brief novel in one sitting, but CORALINE gave me no option. Gaiman has revived the horror story and has done it with dignity. He's given us a young heroine who, in her struggle to rescue her parents and the lost souls of strangers, embodies fears and strengths most of us have. While there are instances, rare instances, in which the narrative or dialogue might have been pared or refined, these do not detract from a book which will draw young adults, adults and middle-grade readers with equal magnetism. The best "children's" book I've read this year.
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