Instructions by Neil Gaiman

Description: The flap designates this picture book from the award-winning team of Gaiman and Vess as "all ages," which is cute but perhaps overly optimistic. Carrying the tagline Everything You'll Need to Know on Your Journey, it could be described as Gaiman's answer to Dr. Seuss' Oh, the Places You'll Go (1990): a catlike creature with a foxlike tail travels through a series of fairy-tale settings, guided by a narrator's instructions. But where the Seuss book has become a staple graduation gift, its nonsensical language easily translating into simple life lessons, Gaiman's seems less likely to find that kind of broad, lasting appeal. Some of the instructions pertaining to real life are straightforward enough ("If any creature tells you that it hungers, feed it"), but others seem to pertain to a story that's not told hereÃ¢ÂÂwhy, for example, should we not trust the youngest of three princesses. References to "Winter's realm" (drawn as a cold-looking, modern city) and "a worm at the heart of the tower" hint at grown-up concerns best avoided but, again, lack needed context. Certainly this will appeal to grown-ups who like a little magic in their lives, but children may be somewhat puzzled. Yet maybe that's all right. Vess' timeless watercolour-and-pencil illustrations, especially those of the cat-fox riding a wise eagle, a silver fish, and a grey wolf, are simply gorgeous and may entice kids to sprawl with the book on the carpet, figuring it all out. And maybe if they imagine their own answers to half-understood questions, then these instructions will have succeeded. Grades K-3. --Keir Graff --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Price: 11.69 USD

Location: East Hanover, NJ

End Time: 2024-11-06T05:57:20.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD