I don't think I really fell in love with this book until I started reading it aloud to my daughter. I remember reading it to myself first and thinking it was clever and witty and had beautiful illustrations, but when I read it for her for the first time I found myself taking on the different voices of the characters and making sounds effects and really letting the story take us both elsewhere for a while.
It's a simple story: young Lucy hears noises in the walls of her house, and she is convinced that there are wolves living there. None of her family believes her and dismiss her concerns, but she maintains her belief. When the wolves (of course they really are there!) come out of the walls, they do what any wolves would do -- chase the family away and take over the house, wearing the family's clothes and playing video games and eating toast and jam in front of the television with the volume as loud as it would go. The family, with nowhere else to go but led by clever Lucy, has to take their turn inside the walls of their house.
It is as smart, funny, and canny of a book as we might expect from Gaiman (who is often at his best when writing in the short form like this) and is accompanied perfectly by McKean's unique style of illustration, well suited to the story.
But as good as it is, believe me when I say it gets ten times better when you read it aloud for someone. Watching a child's eyes as they get engrossed in the story, as they get excited in the parts where the wolves finally appear, as they sparkle with laughter when they see what the wolves are doing, is its own brand of magic. Once they learn the story (which does not take long, Gaiman makes it easy for them), you'll find them reading parts of it with you, like the repeated statement about what happens when the wolves come out of the walls: "It's All Over!"
My youngest daughter now requests that I read 'The Wolves in the Walls' to her nightly, and if that doesn't tell you this is a great book for kids, nothing else will. And, because I love it too and I love reading it to her, I do.
This is a very, very special book to us.
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Reviews with images
Well-crafted, funny adventure
This book is so cute! I didn't realize initially that the artist was the same who did the covers for the Sandman graphic novels. It definitely gives the book a little touch of creepiness just for spice, but it isn't scary either - just adds enough excitement for little kids. The story is cute and funny, the protagonist brave and relatable. Watching my son's slow grin as the story unfolded, I knew this was going to be one of those books we treasure and keep for the next generation.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2021
This book is so cute! I didn't realize initially that the artist was the same who did the covers for the Sandman graphic novels. It definitely gives the book a little touch of creepiness just for spice, but it isn't scary either - just adds enough excitement for little kids. The story is cute and funny, the protagonist brave and relatable. Watching my son's slow grin as the story unfolded, I knew this was going to be one of those books we treasure and keep for the next generation.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2023
