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Coraline Kindle Edition
Neil Gaiman (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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New York Times bestselling and Newbery Medal-winning author Neil Gaiman’s modern classic, Coraline—also an Academy Award-nominated film
"Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house...."
When Coraline steps through a door to find another house strangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous.
But there's another mother there, and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.
Coraline will have to fight with all her wit and courage if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.
Neil Gaiman's Coraline is a can't-miss classic that enthralls readers age 8 to 12 but also adults who enjoy a perfect smart spooky read.
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade level3 - 7
- Lexile measure740L
- PublisherHarperCollins
- Publication dateOctober 6, 2009
- ISBN-109780061972638
- ISBN-13978-0060575915
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Amazon.com Review
What's on the other side of the door? A distorted-mirror world, containing presumably everything Coraline has ever dreamed of... people who pronounce her name correctly (not "Caroline"), delicious meals (not like her father's overblown "recipes"), an unusually pink and green bedroom (not like her dull one), and plenty of horrible (very un-boring) marvels, like a man made out of live rats. The creepiest part, however, is her mirrored parents, her "other mother" and her "other father"--people who look just like her own parents, but with big, shiny, black button eyes, paper-white skin... and a keen desire to keep her on their side of the door. To make creepy creepier, Coraline has been illustrated masterfully in scritchy, terrifying ink drawings by British mixed-media artist and Sandman cover illustrator Dave McKean. This delightful, funny, haunting, scary as heck, fairy-tale novel is about as fine as they come. Highly recommended. (Ages 11 and older) --Karin Snelson
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.From School Library Journal
Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
From Booklist
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
From the Back Cover
When Coraline steps through a door to find another house strangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous.
But there's another mother there, and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.
Coraline will have to fight with all her wit and courage if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.From the Inside Flap
Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house. . . .
When Coraline steps through a door to find another house strangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous.
But there's another mother there, and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.
Coraline will have to fight with all her wit and courage if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.
Celebrating ten years of Neil Gaiman's first modern classic for young readers, this edition is enriched with a brand-new foreword from the author, a reader's guide, and more.
--Family Fun Magazine --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Coraline CD
By Neil GaimanHarper Children's Audio
Copyright ©2002Neil GaimanAll right reserved.
ISBN: 9780060510480
Fairy Tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten
-- G.K. Chesterton.
Chapter One
Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house.
It was a very old house -- it had an attic under the roof and a cellar under the ground and an overgrown garden with huge old trees in it.
Coraline's family didn't own all of the house, it was too big for that. Instead they owned part of it.
There were other people who lived in the old house.
Miss Spink and Miss Forcible lived in the flat below Coraline's, on the ground floor. They were both old and round, and they lived in their flat with a number of ageing highland terriers who had names like Hamish and Andrew and Jock. Once upon a time Miss Spink and Miss Forcible had been actresses, as Miss Spink told Coraline the first time she met her.
"You see, Caroline," Miss Spink said, getting Coraline's name wrong, "Both myself and Miss Forcible were famous actresses, in our time. We trod the boards, luvvy. Oh, don't let Hamish eat the fruit cake, or he'll be up all night with his tummy."
"It's Coraline. Not Caroline. Coraline," said Coraline.
In the flat above Coraline's, under the roof, was a crazy old man with a big moustache. He told Coraline that he was training a mouse circus. He wouldn't let anyone see it.
"One day, little Caroline, when they are all ready, everyone in the whole world will see the wonders of my mouse circus. You ask me why you cannot see it now. Is that what you asked me?"
"No," said Coraline quietly, "I asked you not to call me Caroline. It's Coraline."
"The reason you cannot see the Mouse Circus," said the man upstairs, "is that the mice are not yet ready and rehearsed. Also, they refuse to play the songs I have written for them. All the songs I have written for the mice to play go oompah oompah. But the white mice will only play toodle oodle, like that. I am thinking of trying them on different types of cheese."
Coraline didn't think there really was a mouse circus. She thought the old man was probably making it up.
The day after they moved in, Coraline went exploring.
She explored the garden. It was a big garden: at the very back was an old tennis court, but no-one in the house played tennis and the fence around the court had holes in it and the net had mostly rotted away; there was an old rose garden, filled with stunted, flyblown rose-bushes; there was a rockery that was all rocks; there was a fairy ring, made of squidgy brown toadstools which smelled dreadful if you accidentally trod on them.
There was also a well. Miss Spink and Miss Forcible made a point of telling Coraline how dangerous the well was, on the first day Coraline's family moved in, and warned her to be sure she kept away from it. So Coraline set off to explore for it, so that she knew where it was, to keep away from it properly.
She found it on the third day, in an overgrown meadow beside the tennis court, behind a clump of trees -- a low brick circle almost hidden in the high grass. The well had been covered up by wooden boards, to stop anyone falling in. There was a small knot-hole in one of the boards, and Coraline spent an afternoon dropping pebbles and acorns through the hole, and waiting, and counting, until she heard the plopas they hit the water, far below.
Coraline also explored for animals. She found a hedgehog, and a snake-skin (but no snake), and a rock that looked just like a frog, and a toad that looked just like a rock.
There was also a haughty black cat, who would sit on walls and tree stumps, and watch her; but would slip away if ever she went over to try to play with it.
That was how she spent her first two weeks in the house -- exploring the garden and the grounds.
Her mother made her come back inside for dinner, and for lunch; and Coraline had to make sure she dressed up warm before she went out, for it was a very cold summer that year; but go out she did, exploring, every day until the day it rained, when Coraline had to stay inside.
"What should I do?" asked Coraline.
"Read a book," said her mother. "Watch a video. Play with your toys. Go and pester Miss Spink or Miss Forcible, or the crazy old man upstairs."
"No," said Coraline. "I don't want to do those things. I want to explore."
"I don't really mind what you do," said Coraline's mother, "as long as you don't make a mess."
Coraline went over to the window and watched the rain come down. It wasn't the kind of rain you could go out in, it was the other kind, the kind that threw itself down from the sky and splashed where it landed. It was rain that meant business, and currently its business was turning the garden into a muddy, wet soup.
Coraline had watched all the videos. She was bored with her toys, and she'd read all her books.
She turned on the television. She went from channel to channel to channel, but there was nothing on but men in suits talking about the stock market, and schools programmes. Eventually, she found something to watch: it was the last half of a natural history programme about something called protective coloration. She watched animals, birds and insects which disguised themselves as leaves or twigs or other animals to escape from things that could hurt them. She enjoyed it, but it ended too soon, and was followed by a programme about a cake factory.
It was time to talk to her father.
Coraline's father was home. Both of her parents worked, doing things on computers, which meant that they were home a lot of the time. Each of them had their own study...
Continues...
Excerpted from Coraline CDby Neil Gaiman Copyright ©2002 by Neil Gaiman. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
From AudioFile
Review
About the Author
Neil Gaiman wrote the award-winning graphic novel series The Sandman, and with Terry Pratchett, the award-winning novel Good Omens. His first book for children, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, illustrated by Dave McKean, hasn't yet won any awards, but was one of Newsweek's Best Children's Books of 1997. Angels & Visitations, a small press story collection, was nominated for a World Fantasy Award and won the International Horror Critics Guild Award for Best Collection, despite not having any horror in it. Well, hardly any.
Born in England, he now makes his home in America, in a big dark house of uncertain location where he grows exotic pumpkins and accumulates computers and cats. He is currently at work turning his first novel Neverwhere into a film for Jim Henson films.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.Product details
- ASIN : B000FC1192
- Publisher : HarperCollins; Illustrated edition (October 6, 2009)
- Publication date : October 6, 2009
- Language : English
- File size : 4028 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 208 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN : 0060575913
- Lending : Not Enabled
- Best Sellers Rank: #21,471 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #6 in Children's Parent Books
- #8 in Children's Scary Stories
- #52 in Read & Listen for $14.99 or Less
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
Neil Gaiman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including Norse Mythology, Neverwhere, and The Graveyard Book. Among his numerous literary awards are the Newbery and Carnegie medals, and the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, and Will Eisner awards. He is a Professor in the Arts at Bard College.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
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Top reviews from the United States
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i am by no means a book worm—i literally read math books and the bible and that’s it haha—but every time i read this book, there is even more suspense and the visualization of what is happening is BETTER than the movie. and i discover something new every time. i’ve been watching youtube videos to get other people’s take on the book and it’s just so fascinating.
so i urge you, join the conversation! you won’t regret it. :)
Like a lot of people I will say I saw the movie when I was younger, and to this day it’s still one of my favorites, it’s a go to for sure. I have Cosplayed Coraline for Comic-Con, and I have a Caroline button tattoo. So, we know I love it.
But I had never read the book! To be honest I didn’t know who wrote it either, a fail on my part. However when I found it oh boy, I had to read it.
- [ ] Neil Gaiman has an ability to write amazing stories, filled with great description and definitely spookiness. If you don’t know the story of Coraline, it’s about a little girl who goes through a doorway in her house to her other house and finds her “other parents “ and they want her to stay forever! But of course something has to change with her too. Go through the story to see what the real world and other world have to offer. A very creepy story with creepy but amazing illustrations by Dave McKean go and see what this book has to offer. Also, if you get the 10the anniversary edition which I suggest you do, read Gaiman’s forward and questions at the end too. A fiver out of five buttons....I mean stars.

Like a lot of people I will say I saw the movie when I was younger, and to this day it’s still one of my favorites, it’s a go to for sure. I have Cosplayed Coraline for Comic-Con, and I have a Caroline button tattoo. So, we know I love it.
But I had never read the book! To be honest I didn’t know who wrote it either, a fail on my part. However when I found it oh boy, I had to read it.
- [ ] Neil Gaiman has an ability to write amazing stories, filled with great description and definitely spookiness. If you don’t know the story of Coraline, it’s about a little girl who goes through a doorway in her house to her other house and finds her “other parents “ and they want her to stay forever! But of course something has to change with her too. Go through the story to see what the real world and other world have to offer. A very creepy story with creepy but amazing illustrations by Dave McKean go and see what this book has to offer. Also, if you get the 10the anniversary edition which I suggest you do, read Gaiman’s forward and questions at the end too. A fiver out of five buttons....I mean stars.


However, I wouldn't allow my 10 yr old daughter to read this. It seems like the message is, "You have to solve your problems all by yourself because there is no one who can help you." I don't want my child being told that. Children need to be able to (and be encouraged to) approach the trusted adults in their life for help.
It might be a bit too dark for a 10 year old… but today’s children are not the children we used to be so it might be OK… I have no children in my life so I can’t tell for sure.
As an adult, I found it an entertaining read with its eerie setting and creepy vibe in most of the book. The other mother and her button eyes is a quite nightmarish character…
The reading is fast and enjoyable but I felt like the end was rushed. I turned the page to expect more and it was over….
Top reviews from other countries

The plot is fairly simple, the writing is good and set firmly at a middle grade level and the book explores a variety of themes you normally see in a scary story, but often with a bit of a take-away children can use as teachings in their own life - especially the idea that being given everything you want often comes with a catch (think Hansel and Gretel) .
Now, I come from a slightly different POV than most children reading this book as I experienced an upbringing from a narcissistic mother. Due to this, the 'other mother' and life through the corridor did trigger some rather close to home feelings, even with it being told in an appropriate child-friendly way. Gaiman explores themes around control and abuse in this book, whilst on the surface it can also just be seen as a scary story. The fact that it evokes this response is a credit to his writing - he really captures the monster well.
The story explores themes around family and 'the grass is always greener,' whilst ultimately having the message that although everything has flaws , it is not always safe to just jump to a new situation to fix them.
This book is well written and my student loved it, finishing it in one sitting. She found it creepy and enjoyed exploring the idea of suspense in the story. She is 11 years old and I would say it was fine for 10 up, depending on the child. Some younger students may be fine with it, depending on their sensitivity.

There's only one thing she hasn't explored: the little door in the spare room where her grandmother's furniture is kept 'for best'. Her mother begrudgingly unlocks and opens the door to show a brick wall where it blocks off the empty flat next door. When her mother is out shopping Coraline unlocks the little door herself for another look. Instead of opening onto a brick wall, the door opens to reveal a long dark corridor. Curiosity gets the better of her and she crawls through it.
On the other side of the corridor she crawls out into the flat she just left, but it's different somehow. Her parents are there, but they are different. The Other Mother is taller, thinner, 'her teeth a little too long' and her hair flows around her head. And in the place of eyes are two shiny black buttons. She cooks Coraline the food she always loves, in her other bedroom is a toybox full of toys she loves and in her wardrobe all the kinds of clothes she loves. This world is more interesting and fun, and her parents want to spend time with her. The black cat hasn't changed much in the other world, but it can speak. It tells her to not trust this world and not trust the Other Mother. Everything is not as it seems.
And that is how the little girl spirals into this dark web crafted by the Other Mother to keep her here for herself. What does she really want? Why is she trying to get rid of the cat, 'that vermin', who is the only one telling her any truths?
This is a wonderfully wicked tale that will creep out the adults and fascinate the children. It is one of my favourite books, and if you loved the film you will love this even more as there are differences that strengthens the original story. Extra note: once you've read the book, if you want more then search for 'Coraline theories' on youtube for plenty more mysteries.

The story, of course, centres around the summer holiday adventures of its titular heroine - young Coraline Jones - who, along with her mother and father, has moved into one of the flats in a ramshackle old house in the wilds of the country. Coraline's parents work from home but are busy people; and as I suspect is the case with many youngsters nowadays, they just don't seem to have enough time in the day to spare their daughter the attention she craves. Her mother automatically buys Coraline 'sensible' clothes - never the clothes her daughter actually wants to wear; and her father - a worryingly clueless sort of 'home husband' - is an experimental but terrible cook, and never serves anything to table that Coraline wants to eat.
The upstairs flat is occupied by the eccentrically acrobatic Mr Bobo - a moustachioed Eastern European with a penchant for training a troublesome musical mouse circus; the downstairs flat is shared by two ageing but rather highly strung former thespian spinsters - Miss Forcible and Miss Spink - together with their phlegmatic Highland Terriers: Hamish, Andrew, and Jock. But diverting though these neighbours may at first appear, is it any wonder that a bold and curious young girl like Coraline should want to go adventuring - exactly as a haughty black cat asserts his right to go wandering far and wide about the place, as though he owns it?
It's then that Coraline becomes captivated by the carved, brown wooden door in the drawing room - a locked door, which when released shows only a plain brick wall... Or does it...? In fact, the door leads to another world entirely - and to another house, which looks very much like her own. It also leads to another kindly father and another doting mother, neither of whom can seemingly do enough for lonely little Coraline - providing her with feasts of delicious food and the brightly coloured clothes she has always most desired; but just one thing:
Why do these alternative parents both have large and shiny-bright black buttons, sewn into place where their eyes must once have been...?
I won't go into much more detail about the plot because that would surely spoil the experience for those coming to the novel afresh. Suffice it to say that Coraline has quite a torrid time of it in trying to escape from her 'Other Mother' (otherwise known as the mysterious 'Beldam'), and that - with the help of one very formidable black cat, as previously mentioned - tries endlessly to return to her real mother and father, with whom she now desperately longs to be reunited.
'Coraline' is, of course, a typically imaginative piece of fiction from the distinguished and individual mind of Neil Gaiman. What really works in its favour, I think, is that Mr Gaiman thankfully refrains from those sensational excesses that too often find their way into his adult fictions for no better reason than their shock value, but which often end up being something more of a blight than a blessing. 'Coraline' can, in fact, be rightly celebrated for being a joyously restrained creation - a book about which no parent need concern themeselves too much when it comes to letting their children read it independently. I must also commend the illustrations by Chris Riddell, which grace the 10th Anniversary Edition that I bought - though perhaps the confined reading medium of my Kindle didn't quite do them justice!
A guaranteed page turner!

As with all adaptations, the stop motion film varies slightly from the story in this book, however, I still found myself thoroughly engaged in Coraline Jones adventure through the door to the Other Place and even found my breath held in tension at times.
I downloaded the audio version narrated by Neil Gaiman himself and found that it also differed from the book; I think it was "Americanised" as there were little word changes (flashlight said instead of the torch that was printed, distance was narrated in imperial instead of the metric that was printed, etc) and slight sentence restructures. Having said that, I loved the way Mr Gaiman read his story, the pace of his speech and his tonal inflections; his performance helped to immerse me in the adventure.
Coraline is one of my favourite films, I watch it every Halloween and I am overjoyed to say that it's also one of my favourite books now too.

Coraline discovers a little door in the new house she's moved into, which leads her to her other mother who has big black buttons for eyes... It's thoroughly weird and captivating all at once and the drawings by Chris Riddell are so creepy (except the cat) and definitely add to the reading experience.
My favourite character is definitely the cat!! He's so the star of the show and so sassy I love it. It's definitely a book worth reading and a film worth seeing! A fantastic story and did I say how awesome the cat is?