by Neil Gaiman
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| List Price: | $16.99 |
| Average Rating: |  |
| Lowest New Price: | $12.14 |
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Product Description
There are sneaking,
creeping, crumpling
noises coming from
inside the walls. Lucy is sure there are wolves living in the walls of their house -- and, as everybody says, if the wolves come out of the walls, it's all over. Her family doesn't believe her. Then one day, the wolves come out. But it's not all over. Instead, Lucy's battle with the wolves is only just beginning.
Amazon.com Review
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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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 The Wolves in the Walls, 2008-11-30
Neil Gaiman's intelligence is evident in his books which are a delight. When they are paired with the incredible artwork of Dave McKean they are unsurpassed. The Wolves in the Walls is both scary and funny. I would also recommend Gaiman's The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Gold Fish and Coraline.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
It's all over., 2008-11-02
The next time you hear something creeping in your walls, or you swear that painting is staring at you, believe that it could indeed be that you have wolves in your walls! Written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Dave McKean, The Wolves in the Walls (Harpertrophy, 2005) tells the tale of Lucy, a girl who swears that she can hear wolves in the walls of her home. Her parents and younger brother poke fun at her for believing this, but always give her the same ominous warning, "If the wolves come out of the walls then it's all over." One evening the wolves do break out of the walls, and Lucy and her family are left fleeing in fright from their home. Forced to sleep in their garden until they can come up with another home, Lucy eventually convinces her family to live in the walls of their house. Here, they witness the wolves eating toast and jam, playing Lucy's fathers 2nd best tuba, and playing videogames. Angered that their house is being destroyed, Lucy's family comes through the walls, scaring away the wolves as they yell, "It's all over!" While McKean's illustrations are dark and creepy, children will laugh at the image of a wolf playing a tuba or sliding down a banister in fancy clothing. Neil Gaiman's story is sure to delight readers for years to come.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
I'm 26 and I bought this for myself...and I'm not ashamed!, 2008-07-31
I love Neil Gaiman and I love Dave Mckean, back from the first edition of Coraline. I bought the book for myself and I'm not ashamed. I love children's literature and I love Neil Gaiman's writing & Mckean's artwork. There is such a Tim Burton-ish, Roald Dahl-esque quality which occurs when these two team up; it's a haunting beauty. I think the story is fabulous, not too scary for young kids, & the art is breathtaking. Beautiful elaborate drawings.
A+
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Lang lai le!, 2008-07-09
I loved this book. The illustrations are fantastic. It's funny, but I recently learn the Chinese have an expression, "lang lai le." This is said when there is an unpleasant noise, such as bad singing. It means "the wolves will come out." I would recommend this book for middle school age kids as it is rather scary. I also loved Gaiman's novel, Coraline. I would recommend also the Visions in Poetry version of The Raven illustrated by Ryan Price. Prices illustrations are very similar to McKean's. In fact I feel like it is Price's illustrations that prop up the poem.
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
 Way Too Scary for My Grandchildren, 2008-02-16
I purchased this for my grandchildren 6, 8, and 10 for Christmas. When the 8 y.o opened it, his mother asked to see it and said it was too scary for any of them. I had not read it, but that evening proceeded to read the book. For my grandchildren, it is not age appropriate.
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