Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Audience: 9 and up
Rating: A
Synopsis:
Her name is Coraline, not Caroline, and she’s very curious. She has just moved with her parents into a very large house, and Coraline is eager to explore her yard, her strange new neighbors, and she’s especially curious about the door in the drawing room. This curiosity gets Coraline in trouble when she unlocks this dangerous door and is transported to the ‘other world’ where her ‘other mother’ and ‘other father’ wait to love her, cater to her every whim, make her life more exciting, and … sew buttons on her eyes. Follow Coraline on a twisted, creepy adventure as she battles the evil other mother in the hopes of winning back her real parents and her freedom.
Chatter:
(Spoiler Alerts! ) I think this book is hilarious! I love the haughty cat and the crazy Misses Spink and Forcible, but my favorite part of all is when Coraline calls the police in the middle of the night. I think it’s so funny how Coraline tries to explain that her parents were kidnapped by her ‘other mother’ and are now in the ‘other world.’ When the policeman, who’s clearly not listening, responds that she should go tell her mom that she had a bad dream, I love that Coraline says, “When I see her, I shall tell her that.” Okay, maybe it doesn’t look so funny here… but it’s funny in the book.
But not only is this book funny, it’s eerie too! The other mother is creepy, with her twitchy fingers, button eyes, beetle snacks, and desperate need for Coraline’s love; she gives me the shivers. But I think the scariest part of the book doesn’t even have the other mother in it. For me, the scariest part is when Coraline has the fight with the other father in the basement of the house. The other father sounds scarier when he’s all swollen and falling apart. Imagine if Coraline had gotten trapped down there with him? Yikes!
Questions:
Do you think it was safe to drop the key down the well with the other mother’s hand?
Do you think Coraline’s real parents have any memories about what happened while they were in the other world?
Why do you think the other mother and other father have buttons for eyes?
What did you think the scariest part of the book was?
Keep reading!
-Paige
Brooke Says:
I thought the scariest part was when Coraline saw the other mother’s hand crawling around in her house!
Diana Says:
I don’t think it was safe for Coraline to put the key down the well because she doesn’t know what powers the other mother’s hand could have. What if it escapes?
kaitlynn Says:
i thought that when other mother had all that black goo coming out of her face was really gross!!!:P
brooke Says:
i know i already answered a question but i think the parents dont remember anything because the other mother seems to be suspicous and unusal. so i think she used her powers and made them forget about everything.
Kaitlynn Says:
i think that Other mother and other father have buttons for eyes because it is a different world than Coraline’s real home and in the other world it all looks the same, mostly though. and maybe they were just created that way, or someone sewed black buttons on their eyes for torchure or something….;)
Hannah Montana Lexi!:) Says:
I believe it was not safe for the Coraline to drop the key down the well with the other mother’s hand. I disagree with her decision because she knows the other mother is able to do almost anything. For instance, when Coraline heard noises, she went into her father’s conservatory and discovered the other mother’s hand holding a key. The hand is able to crawl over to the other world and give the other mother the key. That makes the other mother able to come to “the real world” and get Coraline back to her world. The other mother not only knows how to get her key back, but also is able to keep Coraline up in the closet. I can add on because the other mother has two children in her closet in the other world and she has them captured forever. Also, the other mother gives no mercy. Thats why i disagree with Coralines decision for throwing the key down the well with the other mothers hand.
KRK Says:
Was it safe for Coraline to drop the key down the well with Other Mother’s hand?
I don’t think it was safe for Coraline to drop the key down the well with other mother’s hand because it is a different world. No one really knows if she is actually dead. She was defeated by Coraline, but not actually dead. In the book, she had black goo coming out of her and was screaming,” NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” and Coraline closed the door behind her, at that was the last time we heard her in the book. So she could still unlock the drawing room door and come to the real world again. No one knows, but I still think it is a really bad idea.
Bri Bri Says:
I read this book in fourth grade, in my sixth grade class, and there were many things that I forgot. This book was one of my classes favorite, and as you can see since so many people wrote about it! I liked how explained everything where Caroline was!