The "Other" Coraline and More Spooky Books to Come
by Cherie Lee
Neil Gaiman already does pretty well for himself with popular works like the Sandman, American Gods, and Stardust which is now a major motion picture (and a really good one at that, if you missed it in the theatre, you definitely need to see it on DVD.) But I predict that in another year he'll be getting more recognition for his children's books, particularly Coraline, which is slated to be a stop-motion film in 2009 by Henry Selick who did The Nightmare Before Christmas (I know Tim Burton's famous for that but Selick directed it).
Coraline is a beautifully crafted horror/fantasy for kids about a bored little girl who opens a door that normally leads only to a brick wall to find an apartment exactly like her own except there is a creature with long fingernails and button eyes who says she is Coraline's "Other Mother"...
Gaiman is also working on, and perhaps has already finished though it's not yet published, another children's book to be called The Graveyard Book. I wait in drooling anticipation after hearing him do a reading which you can also see here.
Then there’s a book for younger kids called Crazy Hair illustrated by Dave McKean with a projected publication in 2008. It has to be the best poem for kids I’ve ever heard and you can also hear that one here. I challenge you not to smile.
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