Coraline

Coraline is a creepy and surreal type of fairy tale that tells of a young girl who moves into a new home just to find out that it is haunted by a being called the Other Mother. By crossing though a miniature door in their living room, Coraline falls into an alternate universe where her parents have buttons for eyes and completely different personalities than her real parents. At first this seems like a dream come true for young Coraline who feels neglected at home. The Other Mother cooks her all her favorite foods, buys her the nicest clothing and lets her play in the mud. But soon Coraline realizes that the Other Mother intends to trap her, sew buttons into her eyes and steal her soul. The story is so enthralling and the characters are so real that you can practically feel yourself being pulled into this gothic type world and walking along next to Coraline as she meets with one adventure after another. She is accompanied by her not so best friend Wybie and his talking cat that ends up being the hero of the story. While the story has a happy ending, it is pretty creepy and may not be suitable for all children. The upside is that as an educational tool, it certainly pushes children to use their imaginations. There are also positive messages to be found – the number one message being that children should appreciate the families that they have and not want to be anyone else but themselves. And, overall, this young heroine is a pretty positive role model, showing that no matter how small you think you are, you can still be brave and save your parents from the evil creatures living behind your walls. Also, even though it is a semi scary story, the violence is minimal (a cat eats a rat) and there is no bad language to deal with. Overall, if you think your child will not be too creeped out, this is a wonderful story to share with them.