The Wolves in the Walls
by Neil Gaiman
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Book Summary Information
Author: Neil GaimanIllustrator: Dave McKean
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-07-26
ISBN: 0380810956
Number of pages: 56
Publisher: HarperCollins
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780380810956
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of The Wolves in the Walls
Book Review: Horror for the Pre-School Set
Summary: 5 Stars
The Wolves In the Walls tells the story of young Lucy. She keeps hearing scritches, scratches and other noises in the walls. She in convinced that there are wolves behind them but her family keeps fluffing off her fears, but not without throwing out an ominous warning, "If the wolves come out of the walls, then it's all over." You must read on to find out what happens to Lucy, her pig puppet, and their family when Lucy's fears come true.
This may be our favorite new picture book. My son picked it randomly off the shelf at the library and while I usually put his random selections back, seeing Neil Gaiman's name on the cover made me rethink that plan. I was not at all disappointed. We've already read it a number of times since bringing it home and it is definitely on our "need to own" list. It is a modern day horror story for the preschool and kindergarten set that you won't regret you brought home.
In addition to the great storytelling, Dave McKean's artwork is also phenomenal. The whole book is in dark, sepia tones and manages to seamlessly combine two-dimensional and three-dimensional aspects. Many of the characters look just as you would expect to seem them in such films as Coraline, The Corpse Bride, or the Nightmare Before Christmas. I'm a sucker for the incredible artwork found in modern day children's books and this one definitely takes the cake.
Summary of The Wolves in the Walls
Lucy hears sneaking, creeping,
crumpling noises
coming from inside
the walls.
She is sure there are
wolves living in
the walls
of her house.
Truth be told, Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean's picture book The Wolves in the Walls is terrifying. Sure, the story is fairytale-like and presented in a jaunty, casually nonsensical way, but it is absolutely the stuff of nightmares. Lucy hears wolves hustling, bustling, crinkling, and crackling in the walls of the old house where her family lives, but no one believes her. Her mother says it's mice, her brother says bats, and her father says what everyone seems to say, "If the wolves come out of the walls, it's all over." Lucy remains convinced, as is her beloved pig-puppet, and her worst fears are confirmed when the wolves actually do come out of the walls.
Up to this point, McKean's illustrations are spectacular, sinister collages awash in golden sepia tones evocative of the creepy beauty in The City of Lost Children. The wolves explode into the story in scratchy pen-and-ink, all jaws and eyes. The family flees to the cold, moonlit garden, where they ponder their future. (Her brother suggests, for example, that they escape to outer space where there's "nothing but foozles and squossucks for billions of miles.") Lucy wants to live in her own house...and she wants the pig-puppet she left behind.
Eventually she talks her family into moving back into the once-wolfish walls, where they peek out at the wolves who are watching their television and spilling popcorn on slices of toast and jam, dashing up the stairs, and wearing their clothes. When the family can't stand it anymore, they burst forth from the walls, scaring the wolves, who shout, "And when the people come out of the walls, it's all over!" The wolves flee and everything goes back to normal...until the tidy ending when Lucy hears "a noise that sounded exactly like an elephant trying not to sneeze." Adult fans of this talented pair will revel in the quirky story and its darkly gorgeous, deliciously shadowy trappings, but the young or faint of heart, beware! (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson
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