Parental Priorities, in action

This week, I have exposed my daughter to the wonder that is Neil Gaiman, via his illustrated children's book The Wolves in the Walls. Illustrated by Dave McKean, who also did the pictures for Gaiman's Coraline, this book tells the tale of a young girl who hears strange noises in the walls of her home. She is convinced that the sounds are made by wolves living in the walls, but her family insists otherwise, citing rats and mice and bats and casually intoning, "When the wolves come out of the walls, it's all over".

Of course, in typical Gaiman fashion, this fairly creepy start eventually gives way to a pretty humorous conclusion once the wolves actually do come out of the walls. When I was a kid, I always tended to enjoy the stories that had a slightly creepy air about them -- Roald Dahl, Maurice Sendak, John Bellairs -- and I'm glad that Gaiman is keeping this kind of thing going.