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The Barnes & Noble Review
Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean -- the pair who brought you the chilling bestseller Coraline -- make a frightening and darkly amusing return in this hair-raising picture book about a family and their wall-dwelling wolf problem.
Based on the cacophony of noises coming from inside, Lucy's sure there are wolves in the walls of her house. No one in her family believes her suspicions, but when the wolves finally emerge one night after "a howling and a yowling, a bumping and a thumping," Lucy, her brother, and her parents hightail it outside to safety. After some family bickering about what they should all do, Lucy bravely decides to rescue her pig-puppet, which has been mistakenly left behind. While on her covert mission, the girl discovers lots of room inside the house's walls for habitation, and the family sneaks back into the house. There they see the wolves watching TV, playing video games (even beating the high scores), and "playing an old wolf melody on Lucy's father's second-best tuba," In a grand turning of the tables, they leap out of the walls, scare the intruders away, and reclaim their home for good.
Disarmingly imaginative and brilliantly twisted, Gaiman and McKean's picture book rises above the level of mere scare tactics to mesmerize and grip readers with its blend of multilevel artwork, eccentric story, and creepy atmosphere. McKean's well-suited, amazing illustrations -- reminiscent of The Sandman and Coraline -- will bend your mind in fantastically freakish directions, while Gaiman's tale is sure to enthrall kids with a penchant for unnerving stories. Definitely cool, right down to the bone. Matt Warner
The Washington Post
Many children may find this book truly nightmarish, despite its essential zaniness (wolves feasting on toast and jam) and its reassuring joke of an ending.
— Elizabeth Ward
Publishers Weekly
When the wolves begin to come out of the walls, a girl comes up with a strategy to frighten them off. "Gaiman's text rings with energetic confidence and an inviting tone," wrote PW. "McKean expertly matches the tale's funny-scary mood." All ages. (Aug.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
School Library Journal
Gr 2-4-Lucy hears sounds in her house and is certain that the "sneaking, creeping, crumpling" noises coming from inside the walls are wolves. Her parents and her brother know "if the wolves come out-, it's all over," and no one believes that the creatures are there-until they come out. Then the family flees, taking refuge outside. It is Lucy who bravely returns to rescue her pig puppet and who talks the others into forcing the animals to leave. Gaiman and McKean deftly pair text and illustrations to convey a strange, vivid story evolving from a child's worst, credible fear upon hearing a house creak and groan. Glowing eyes and expressive faces convey the imminent danger. This rather lengthy picture book displays the striking characteristics of a graphic novel: numerous four-panel pages opening into spreads that include painted people; scratchy ink-lined wolves; and photographed, computer-manipulated images. Children will delight in the "scary, creepy tone" and in the brave behavior displayed by the intrepid young heroine.-Marian Creamer, Children's Literature Alive, Portland, OR Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
You know what they say: "If the wolves come out of the walls, it's all over." When Lucy hears wolves crinkling, crackling, sneaking, creeping, and crumpling in the walls, she futilely attempts to warn her family. Once out of the walls, the wolves proceed to dance "wolfish dances up the stairs and down again" until Lucy, with the help of her stalwart pig-puppet, decides that enough is enough, and leads her family back-into the walls. Gaiman does here for the older picture-book set what he did for middle-grade readers with last year's Coraline, crafting a tale of surreal and sinister adversaries who are bested by a young girl's determination to set her world to rights. The slyly deadpan text, rich in language and wordplay, never doubts Lucy's capacity to manage the chaos, but McKean's illustrations are something else again, their mixed-media creepiness giving the lie to the publisher's disingenuous "all ages" designation and marking it clearly as not for the faint of heart. (Picture book. 7-10)
From the Publisher
The illustrations are amazing. And, like every good scary story, there’s an unexpected twist at the end.” — Washington Post
“Gaiman’s text rings with energetic confidence and an inviting tone. McKean expertly matches the tale’s funny-scary mood.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Gaiman has one creepy imagination. Hand this to a jaded third or fourth-grader and watch their eyes get big.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“This is a picture book for the twenty-first century child: visually and emotionally sophisticated, accessible, and inspired.” — ALA Booklist
“Children will delight in the “scary, creepy” tone and in the brave behavior displayed by the intrepid young heroine.” — School Library Journal
“Madly inventive, madly funny. Some will find it creepy; for the rest it will offer the sustaining jam of life.” — The Guardian (UK)
“Spectacular…atmospheric, sinister, scary, and funny…This is a book for cool kids who will grow up to be fearless.” — Sunday Times (London)
“Gaiman, with regular collaborator Dave McKean, suffuses this sumptuous story with a night-light-worthy creepiness.” — Family Fun Magazine
Washington Post
The illustrations are amazing. And, like every good scary story, there’s an unexpected twist at the end.
The Guardian (UK)
Madly inventive, madly funny. Some will find it creepy; for the rest it will offer the sustaining jam of life.
Sunday Times (London)
Spectacular…atmospheric, sinister, scary, and funny…This is a book for cool kids who will grow up to be fearless.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Gaiman has one creepy imagination. Hand this to a jaded third or fourth-grader and watch their eyes get big.
Family Fun Magazine
Gaiman, with regular collaborator Dave McKean, suffuses this sumptuous story with a night-light-worthy creepiness.
ALA Booklist
This is a picture book for the twenty-first century child: visually and emotionally sophisticated, accessible, and inspired.
Washington Post
The illustrations are amazing. And, like every good scary story, there’s an unexpected twist at the end.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Gaiman has one creepy imagination. Hand this to a jaded third or fourth-grader and watch their eyes get big.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Gaiman has one creepy imagination. Hand this to a jaded third or fourth-grader and watch their eyes get big.
The Guardian(UK)
"Madly inventive, madly funny. Some will find it creepy; for the rest it will offer the sustaining jam of life."
The Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books
Gaiman has one creepy imagination. Hand this to a jaded third or fourth-grader and watch their eyes get big.
