Explore Neil Gaiman’s Great Books for Kids!

Chu’s Day, illustrated by Adam Rex
Chu is a little panda with a big sneeze, and when he sneezes, bad things happen! He doesn’t sneeze at the library, he doesn’t sneeze at the diner, but when his parents take him to the circus…disaster! This cute and funny book, with pictures full of fascinating details, and the suspenseful build-up to the big sneeze, is sure to be a read-aloud hit!

Cinnamon, illustrated by Divya Srinivasan
Cinnamon is a blind and silent princess in long ago India. Her parents offer a reward for anyone who can teach her to speak, with no success…until a tiger arrives. He brings with him wildness and danger, and the love of a fierce tiger lick, and Cinnamon finally has something to say. And so she leaves the confines of the palace with the tiger, and journeys into the wild. It is a strange, fairy tale sort of story; give this one to kids ready for a twist on the old familiar princess tales. They might not understand it, but the story and the beautiful illustrations will make them think and wonder and dream.

Instructions, illustrated by Charles Vess
This book will set the mind of your imaginative, fairy-tale loving child on fire, in the best possible way! It is, as the title promises, a series of brief instructions for the traveler setting of into the fantastic—basically, what you should do if you find yourself in fairy tale. Some of the advice is specific to magical encounters, but some is good for daily life to (be polite, and help those in need, trust your dreams, and trust your story). With lovely illustrations, full of enchantment, this a great graduation gift for any dreamer leaving kindergarten or college.

The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, illustrated by Dave McKean
If you have kids who enjoy the surreal and fantastic (not a sparkly fantastic, but a dreamlike one), they’ll enjoy this story of a boy who literally swaps his dad for two goldfish (and their bowl). When Mom comes home, she’d not happy, and sends the boy and his little sister to undo the swap. But it’s not simple—a whole chain of swaps has taken place, and they must walk all over town, until they finally can swap back a rabbit for their dad. It’s darkly ridiculous and has more than a few funny one-liners!

The Wolves in the Walls, illustrated by Dave McKean
A little girl hears scritchings and scratchings from inside the walls of her house. She knows it’s wolves, but no one in her family believes her until the night the wolves burst though! The family flees…and to reclaim their home from the raucously partying wolves, they’ll have to give the trespassers a taste of their own medicine. The dark illustrations add to the horror of having wolves in the walls; exercise caution if you have a sensitive child and live in an old house, but the kid who loves being spooked will eat it up! It might look like a picture book but save it for when your kids are older (but still willing to sit next to you on the sofa)—7 to 10 years old, perhaps, or give it to your 9-12-year-old graphic novel reader.

Fortunately, The Milk, illustrated by Skottie Young
If you have 8-10 year old kids who like funny insanity, this is the book for them! When Mom’s away, Dad has to look after the kids, which means going down to the shop for breakfast milk. The minutes tick away, the kids get worried, and then Dad returns with a tall, tall tale to tell (and, fortunately, the milk!). Kidnapped by aliens, saved by a time traveling stegosaurus, threatened by pirates and dancing dwarfs, the brave dad keeps almost losing the milk, but triumphs in the end. The wild and whacky illustrations enliven the already outlandish story even more!

Coraline, illustrated by Dave McKean
This one’s a classic, for good reason. Coraline’s new apartment has 21 windows and 14 doors; one is locked. When Coraline manages to open it, she finds an apartment just like hers, only better. The food is great, the toys are marvelous, and the mother and father shower her with all the attention anyone could want. But there’s a catch. They want to keep her forever. Things get darker still when Coraline realizes that other children have been trapped too. Can she free herself, and them, from the truly terrifying other mother and father? Though the story is creepy as all get out, Coraline wins through in the end, and there are generous touches of humor to lighten the mood. A good one to give the child who’s not appreciating your parenting enough. Also available as a graphic novel.

Odd and the Frost Giants, illustrated by Chris Riddell
This is my own personal favorite of Gaiman’s kids’ books, and one my own boys love as well. In Norway long ago, Odd has fled into the snowy woods to escape the unhappiness of his home. He meets three animals, a fox, a bear and an eagle, who are Norse gods (Loki, Thor, and Odin) trapped in animal forms by a frost giant who’s driven them from Asgard and frozen the world. They need Odd’s help to overthrow the giant, and so they set off, with Odd riding on the bear’s back. Odd can’t outfight the giant, he can’t think of a way to trick him, and he doesn’t have any special magical powers or talismans. All he has is a carving his father had begun before he died, and his wits…This is a lovely book for winter time reading together under the covers or in front of a fire, and a great introduction to Norse Mythology.

The Graveyard Book, illustrated by Dave McKean
This is Gaiman’s most acclaimed children’s book; it won multiple awards, including the Newbery Medal. It’s the story of a little child who by pure luck escaped the murderer who came to kill his family, and toddled up the road to a graveyard, whose ghosts took him in and raised him as their own, calling him Bod (short for Nobody). The chapters are all episodes in Bod’s life as he grows older, with the spooky, sometimes scary magic and dangers of the graveyard adding tension, culminating in the defeat of the original killer. It’s not a horror story; though there are very scary elements to it, they’re offset by the warmth and love of the ghosts who raise Bod, and his own optimistic nature. It is utterly magical, and completely unforgettable! Also available as a graphic novel.