Wolves in the Walls

Wolves in the Walls
by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave McKean, 2003, New York: Harper Collins. (038097827X).

Author Website: http://www.neilgaiman.com/

Illustrator Website: http://www.davemckean.com/

Media: mixed media (photography, drawing, computer generated images)

Awards and Honors: New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book (2003), IRA/CBC Children's Choice (2004) award, British Science Fiction Association award for Short Fiction (2003)

Annotation: A surrealistic tale of a young girl and her family who are plagued by an infestation of very messy, party loving wolves in their walls.

Personal Reaction:
     Neil Gaiman and illustrator Dave McKean are known for creating surreal, bizarre and slightly unhinged books for children. The Wolves in the Walls is no exception. Lucy is a young girl who believes there are wolves in the walls of her house, but her family all dismiss her fears while adding the foreboding warning, "If the wolves come out of the walls, then it's all over". 

     Of course, there really are wolves in the walls- ones who end up barreling out in the middle of the night. Lucy and her family flee the house and take shelter in the garden while the wolves live it up; watching television, plaing the tuba, eating toast and jam, and generally wreaking havoc in the house. While Lucy's family had initially been dismissive of her fears, they're now completely defeatist- no one wants to stand up to the wolves. There are suggestions of moving to the Arctic Circle, the Sahara Desert or outer space, but Lucy insists that it's not all over and she isn't going to live anywhere that's not her house. Ultimately, it is Lucy who summons up her courage and leads the charge to reclaim the house from the wolves. 
     
     While growing up kids face many fears and no matter how outlandish they may seem to adults, they are very real to children. The message of The Wolves in the Walls is that while sometimes your fears can be real, it is always possible to face them, no matter how frightening they can be.

Onomatopoeia: 
"They were hustling noises and bustling noises. They were crinkling noises and crackling noises. They were sneaking, creeping, crumpling noises."
"She heard rustlings and scratchings and squeezings and creakings in the old house..."