The Wolves in the Walls - Rambling Readers

English language

Published April 13, 2003

ISBN:: 978-0-380-81095-6

(1 review)

The Wolves in the Walls is a book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, published in 2003, in the United States by HarperCollins, and in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury. The book was highly praised on release, winning three awards for that year. In 2006, it was made into a musical which toured the UK and visited the US in 2007.Neil Gaiman has said the story was inspired by a nightmare his daughter Maddy, then aged 4, had that there were wolves in the walls. In the story the protagonist, Lucy, hears wolves in the walls of her family's house, but her family does not believe her until one day when the wolves come out of the walls. The book is notable for Dave McKean's art, which utilises many different techniques, including photography, computer-generated imagery and drawing to achieve its effect.It is also available in Spanish, German and Italian.

1 edition

Arbieroo reviewed The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman

Review of 'The Wolves in the Walls' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This is a great story about parents not listening to their daughter and said daughter saving their home. It also has wolves...in the walls! It comes with a CD of Gaiman reading the story aloud, which I haven't heard yet...but if the readings from The Ocean at the End of the Lane I heard him give last week are anything to go by, it should be excellent. It is just the kind of story that should be read aloud, too, full of the rhythms and repeated refrains that fit with oral story telling.

McKean's illustrations are not readily described, which is a good thing because that means they are not cliched or boring. They seem to be some kind of digital fusion of photographic and painted elements that create a sort of collage effect I've not really seen before. They are very evocative of mood and are just as excellent …

This is a great story about parents not listening to their daughter and said daughter saving their home. It also has wolves...in the walls! It comes with a CD of Gaiman reading the story aloud, which I haven't heard yet...but if the readings from The Ocean at the End of the Lane I heard him give last week are anything to go by, it should be excellent. It is just the kind of story that should be read aloud, too, full of the rhythms and repeated refrains that fit with oral story telling.

McKean's illustrations are not readily described, which is a good thing because that means they are not cliched or boring. They seem to be some kind of digital fusion of photographic and painted elements that create a sort of collage effect I've not really seen before. They are very evocative of mood and are just as excellent as the story, which makes a doubly excellent book, overall.

Great stuff.