Poor Coraline. She is stuck spending her summer vacation in
the old subdivided house where her family has just moved. The only other people
living there are two old ladies who used to be actresses and a crazy old man
who claims to have a mouse circus that he won’t let anyone see. Everyone gets
her name wrong; it’s Coraline, NOT Caroline! Her parents are always busy
working and don’t have time to play. And her dad is always cooking fancy
“recipes” for dinner when Coraline would just prefer some good, plain food.
Yes, life is pretty glum for Coraline. That is until the walled-up door to the
empty neighboring flat turns into a tunnel that leads to another world. It is a
world with a house just like hers, except the two old ladies are young and
energetic and put on fantastic theatrical shows to a room full of dogs; her
room is full of wonderful toys that come alive and play with her; and she has
another mother and another father who look just like her real mother and
father, except that they have buttons for eyes. Coraline’s other father always
has time to play with her. Coraline’s other mother buys her all the types of
clothes she really wants to wear, cooks her the most wonderful dinners made up
of all the foods she most wants to eat, and wants to keep her and cherish her
and love her. Forever. The other mother even has a pair of nice black buttons
that would fit Coraline perfectly…
I had seen the movie Coraline a few years ago, and so I
thought I knew what to expect when I picked up the book. But of course, no movie
could ever capture the lovely, delicious prose of Neil Gaiman. His writing is
always so confident, skillful, and playful that reading anything he authors is
like giving your imagination dinner at a five-star restaurant. Yes, the book is
much better than the movie, and the movie was already pretty good. This is
technically a children’s book, but really anyone over the age of seven with a
pulse should enjoy Coraline. I also have to mention that Dave McKean’s
illustrations do a great job of capturing the tone of Gaiman’s story as well.
Like most of Gaiman’s books, Coraline doesn’t follow
the rules. In a conventional children’s fantasy book, the parents would realize
that they’ve been neglecting their precious little snowflake and shower her
with all the things she feels like she’s been missing. In this book, Coraline
realizes that she needs to stop being dissatisfied and appreciate the fact that
her parents love her even though they work a lot, and don’t buy her the clothes
she wants, and her dad puts green pepper and pineapple on the homemade pizza.
It’s a good reminder that not all love looks the same, and some things that
look like love aren’t.
So do yourself a favor. If you are a parent looking for some
good family out-loud reading material, or if you have kids who are looking for
a good story, or if you’re a teen or adult who has a couple of hours to spend
with a master storyteller, pick up a copy of Coraline.
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