Definitely don’t read The Graveyard Book to your younger children, it’ll give them nightmares for the rest of their lives. Start with children around the age of eight or nine and you should safe, but even they may have a scare. Just as Neil Gaiman targeted Coraline toward the middle grades and young adult audience he has done the same with The Graveyard Book.
The Graveyard Book mixes just the right touches of sweetness and fear to bring you the tale of young Nobody Owens, a “boy” raised by ghosts and other wonderful creatures in an old graveyard. Nobody comes to Mr. and Mrs. Owens as a toddler after some tragic events unfold. Given time Nobody Owens learns to wield the power of the graveyard as his own and is given free access to all of its hidden places, and things. Slowly, Nobody reaches maturity in the graveyard, but then trouble comes stalking him. Will he be able to escape? I leave that for you to discover.
I must admit that even as an adult I enjoyed this book. I passed it on to my son and his wife to read and they thought is was very good. Gaiman seems able to bridge the age gap with his books so adults can enjoy them almost as much as the younger audience. It is a rare talent that has not been ignored. Gaiman presents a long line of titles that bridge the same gap and The Graveyard Book is only one of many.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman text copyright 2008. Published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019 http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com ISBN 978-0-06-053092-1, US $17.99, Canada $19.50
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