Listen to Gaiman do a reading of the first chapter here (the only way anything Neil Gaiman writes can get better is by listening to him actually speak the words out loud).In 1989, Neil Gaiman first introduced to the world Morpheus, Lord of the Dreaming, and Shaper of Form, in the epic comic book saga The Sandman. The book covers themes of family and love, truth and bravery, and it does so in a really fun and interesting way that will keep boys and girls reading. The premise is dark (Bod’s family is murdered within the first few pages of the book), but it’s really the perfect amount of scariness for middle-grade readers. And it is a fantastically creepy and adventure-filled story. This Newbery-award-winning novel opens with a great illustration by frequent Gaiman-collaborator Dave McKean and the words “Nobody Came to the Graveyard.” The boy hero of The Graveyard Book is Nobody “Bod” Owens. and action oriented text really pull the child into the story and has them thinking about what they would do and what they should do in the various situations. Trust your heart, and trust your story.”Īs a read aloud, this is wonderful. There’s a genuine love of literature that comes through the text, “Trust Dreams. This book in particular is great for those in-between readers, ones who still enjoy being read to, but are savvy enough to catch the various references to famous fairy tales throughout the text. What started out as a poem about what to do if you find yourself in a fairy tale turned into a gorgeous picture book. This is one of my favorites of Gaiman’s younger work. I mean, this Panda has a sneeze so big, an elephant flies across the room.Īlso Read: The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish Kids get a kick out of the big AH-AH-CHOO Chu sneezes, and going through the detailed illustrations from Adam Rex ( Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, Cold Cereal). So, when his mother takes him to a dusty library and his dad takes him to a very pepper-heavy diner, you can imagine the craziness that ah-ah-AH-CHOO-ensues. But like most Gaiman, it has an ominous air about it: “When Chu sneezed, bad things happened.” You’re setting us up for anxiety! Chu is a tiny panda who has a BIG sneeze.

And that there are many and they are so good.Ĭhu’s Day is for very, very wee ones. I mean, I knew of Coraline and Stardust, but picture books? I had no idea. It wasn’t until I started working at Scholastic that I knew Neil even had books that were actually for kids. I read everything from American Gods to the Sandman series.

We read Neverwhere in a British Fantasy course in undergrad and I was o-b-s-e-s-s-e-d. I didn’t discover Neil Gaiman until I was 18, a little past the young reader’s age. This post is part of our Neil Gaiman Reading Day: a celebration of one of our favorite authors on the occasion of the publication of his new novel, The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman