Coraline: Literary Summary

Coraline is a fantasy, science fiction novel written by Neil Gaiman and features illustrations by Dave McKean. The story follows the adventure of Coraline Jones, a young girl who has recently moved, her relationship with her parents and a twisted reality she finds herself in after finding a small door in her new home. The story follows classic literary elements for the genre with magic, a setting that completely developed and a variety of characters that are complex and established. I found it to be a very enjoyable read that was hard to put down filled with dark illustrations that helped my imagination run wild with the story. Children will benefit from the lessons in Coraline and it is also an easy read, this makes it ideal for beginner and intermediate readers to complete.

Coraline Jones is a young girl who, when we meet her in the book, is transitioning after moving into a rural home with her two loving but busy parents. She is an inquisitive kid who wants to spend time with her mother and father but they always seem to be too busy. This causes her to investigate her new surroundings and leaves her wanting more for social interaction.

As Coraline explored around her new home she found a small door in the drawing room. She curiously opened it to see what was inside and there she found a pathway from the realm of the real-world to, what seemed to be at the time, a wonderous magical place occupied by another version of her parents and run by the “Other Mother”.

At first Coraline found the new world to be much better than her own but that soon changed as the Other Mother continued to push Coraline to stay forever. Coraline was told if she stayed in the world of the Other Mother, she would continue to enjoy the fantastic life she had experienced, all she had to do was have buttons sewn on to replace her eyes. Although Coraline considered the idea she eventually realized it was better for her to be with her real parents.

When the Other Mother realized Coraline would not stay she was not happy about the idea. To get Coraline to do her bidding the Other Mother kidnapped her parents and hid them away. Coraline then had to return to the realm of the Other Mother and rescue her parents before defeating the Other Mother and resuming her original life in the real-world.

The story follows uses classic literary elements from the fantasy genre. The magic system is not only well defined but easy to understand. In the realm of the Other Mother the magic is at it’s strongest and although it is still present in the real-world it is at its weakest. The magic is controlled by the Other Mother and is limited to her focus of attention and a subsystem exists with cats where they seem set between both realms.

There is a small variety of characters in the story and they are well developed allowing the reader to “know” them beyond just names and the events that are immediately happening around them. The characters have many properties similar to real people and because of this it is easier to understand how and why they act or react to the situations as they unfold. This also helps build an attachment to the characters making the read much more interesting.

Coraline is an interesting read and very enjoyable. The story leads the reader through a somewhat creepy adventure and really grabs the readers attention. Once the story has been established it is difficult to stop reading and often when I did, I found myself wondering what would happen next and how would those events be told.

The books illustrations are drawn with a very dark element in black and white with thick dark lines. The style is similar to what you may see in a Van Gogh painting and combined with the writings help the readers imagination run with the story. The illustrations of the characters really help with picturing how they look and also help set the mood for how interacting with them would feel.

One of the main benefits for children from the story of Coraline is the moral of appreciating what you have. I found the book had a very strong message about this and it was shown in several ways. I think the most important way that message was brought to light was with the situation involving Coraline and her parents. It is very important to appreciate the parents we have; they may not be perfect but they do love us and there is no replacing them.

I also think the ease of reading for the book is a good confidence booster for children who are just starting to read longer writings. The novel is fairly quick and easy to finish and because the story is about a young girl it is easy for kids to relate to. This combination almost ensures that beginner or intermediate readers will enjoy finishing it and have a feeling of accomplishment once they are done.

Coraline science fiction novel for children of all ages. The story takes the reader from the real-world to a fantasy land controlled by the character the Other Mother. The book features dark illustrations that enhance the story and trigger the imagination. The story uses many literary elements found in the fantasy genre. I enjoyed Coraline a great deal and think children will benefit from the lessons it contains as well as build confidence in reading because it is an easy book to complete.

Works Cited

Gaiman, Neil. Coraline. New York: Harper Perennial, 2006.

Cover Image

Gaiman, Neil. Coraline. New York: Harper Perennial, 2006.