Product Description

In Coraline's family's new flat there are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close. The fourteenth is locked and on the other side is a brick wall, until one day when Coraline unlocks the door and finds a passage to another flat in another house exactly like her own.

Only it's different.

At first, things seem fantastic in the new flat. The food is better. The toy box is full of exciting toys, books whose pictures writhe and crawl and shimmer and little dinosaur skulls that chatter their teeth. But there's another mother and another father, and they want Coraline to stay with them and be their daughter. They want to change her and never let her go.

Coraline discovers there are other children trapped there already and she is their only hope of rescue. She will have to fight with all her wits if she is to save the lost children, her real parents and herself.

In this alternately whimsical, creepy, charming and dreamlike story, written in simple but elegant prose, Neil Gaiman has created a modern fairytale that is at times funny, at times frightening and at times beautifully surreal

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3939 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-06
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Despite being mostly known for his fantastical graphic novels and adult fiction, Neil Gaiman's first book for children is everything that you would expect from such a massive imagination as his. It's special and wonderful and very weird indeed. Described by some as the new Alice in Wonderland, Coraline is actually more bizarre than that, much more frightening and its modest length definitely adds to the book's undiluted potency.

Shortly after moving into an old house with strange tenants above and below, Coraline discovers a big, carved, brown wooden door at the far corner of the drawing room. And it is locked. Curiosity runs riot in Coraline's mind and she unlocks the door to see what lies behind it. Disappointingly, it opens onto a brick wall. Days later, after exploring the rest of the house and garden, Coraline returns to the same mysterious door and opens it again. This time, however, there is a dark hallway in front of her. Stepping inside, the place beyond has an eerie familiarity about it. The carpet and wallpaper are the same as in her flat. The picture hanging on the wall is the same. Almost. Strangest of all, her mum and dad are there too. Only they have buttons for eyes and seem more possessive than normal. It's a twisted version of her world that is familiar, and yet sinister. And matters get even more surreal for Coraline when her "other" parents seem reluctant to let her leave.

Her attempted escape from this nightmare alternative reality sees Coraline experience a chilling series of ever more bizarre encounters. Some are plainly odd, others disturbingly spooky and together they combine to form an immensely readable story. It's like all the best bits of the Goosebumps books condensed into 160 pages. A unique reading experience guaranteed. (Ages 10 and over)--John McLay

Philip Pullman, The Guardian, 31st August 2002
"this is a marvellously strange and scary book. ...Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, rise to your feet and applaud: 'Coraline' is the real thing."

The Times Educational Supplement, Adele Geras, August 2nd 2002
"it blew my mind. ... I've since re-read the novel and it's even better than I remembered."

Customer Reviews

Very enjoyable
I picked this up when it appeared on my son's reading list for school. I must say children now have such a better range of fiction than they did when I was at school. I could not put it down. It's very creepy and highly enjoyable.

Very Inventive!
I am a confirmed Neil Gaiman fan and so had no qualms about picking up this book - even though it is more for younger readers - and I wasn't disappointed! I thought it worked hard to build up quirky characters and a genuinely creepy atmosphere. In fact, the description of the Other Mother was enough to give me nightmares - and I'm in my twenties! Enjoyable for readers of all ages, though perhaps a little too scary for some small children.

what a strange story!
Read this in preparation as having it as a class story next term. Think the children will really enjoy it even though it has some very bizarre & spooky ideas, not suitable if your child is easily frightened.