The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman

This is a really good childrens book written by Gaiman and illustrated by Dave McKean. I don't usually read kids books, but it was by Neil, so I bought it anyway.
I love the way he knows just how kids think. This little girl named Lucy is hearing things in the walls of her house. She and her little pig puppet are convinced its wolves. She tells everyone in her family and they all try to tell her that its mice, or rats, or that she is bats. But she knows the truth. Its Wolves!
Then the wolves come out of the walls and scare the family out of the home and to the bottom of the garden. They are soon tired of sleeping outside while the wolves have the run of the house, so they all go back in, and THEY creep into the walls of the house. The family then jumps out of the walls just like the wolves did, and they scare those wolves right out of the house, and the wolves were never seen again.
I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again, but I LOVE Neil Gaiman!! I would definitely recommend this to everyone, even if you're not a kid, and even if you don't have any.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Needless to say, I loved this book. This is a story about a baby who survives a murder attempt on his life when he is only a baby. Unfortunately, his family is not so lucky. The baby crawls away to safety, oblivious to what has happened, and finds his way to a graveyard nearby. Fate, or Chance, or something, smiles on him then, and he is adopted by two of the ghosts in the graveyard, Mister and Mistress Owens. He is also given Freedom of the Graveyard, which gives him privileges that none but the ghosts themselves have there. He is cared for, loved, and educated by all of the inhabitants of the graveyard, including his guardian, Silas, who is neither living, nor dead, but comes and goes as he pleases; at least, he did before the baby showed up. The baby is named Nobody Owens by the ghosts, and lives his life much like his literary predecessor, Mowgli, from The Jungle Book.
Neil Gaiman consistently delivers amazingly written stories for people of all ages. Every time I pick up one of his novels I expect great characters, well delivered stories, and great imagery. This one was no different. I got to see Bod, short for Nobody, grow up, learn to read from gravestones, develop friendships, and become a person that I admire. He is brave, smart, has a voracious thirst for knowledge. He is always kind, helps others with their problems. And most importantly, he has a love of life that is unextinguishable. This love is what guides him in all the right directions, and saves his life. This book is one I would read to my kids in a heart beat if I had kids. Talk about a book with morals; this is one of the best books I have read in a long time. Go read it!!

#7 Coraline, by Neil Gaiman

I did the unthinkable here, and I saw the movie before I read the book. Gasp!!
But honestly, I don't think it mattered this time. I LOVED the movie, it was so creative and creepy and hysterical too. And I really enjoyed the book. This was my first time reading one of his children's books, so it was a bit different for me anyway, and it was so different from any other children's book I'd ever seen.
For those of you who are living under a rock, and don't know the story, here you go: Coraline Jones moves into a flat in a large house with her writer parents, who are often much too busy to play with her and entertain her. All of her neighbors are strange, plus they all call her Caroline, not Coraline, Caroline. She has to find ways to enjoy herself in this new place, so she decides to go exploring. In her exploration of the house she finds that it has 14 creaky doors, 13 of which actually open, but one of them does not. She gets her mother to find the key, then opens it to find a brick wall behind it. She goes back to that door later to find that there is a long tunnel through it, where she finds that she has a set of "other" parents; they look kind of like her parents, but they are also very different from her real parents. Creepiness and danger ensue as Coraline must get herself permanently away from her "other" mother, save the souls of three dead kids, and rescue her own real parents from the clutches of her other mother.
I really liked this book; it was different and inventive just like all of Gaiman's other books, but like all good children's books, included many keen insights into morality, and some unexpected wisdom. If I had kids, I would read this to them in a heartbeat.