Coraline: The Graphic Novel
Coraline discovered the door a little after they moved into the house.
When Coraline steps through a door in her family’s new house, she finds another house strangely similar to her own (only better). But there’s another mother there and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.
Acclaimed artist P. Craig Russell brings Neil Gaiman’s enchanting, nationally bestselling children’s book Coraline to new life in this gorgeously illustrated graphic novel adaptation.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars disturbing drawings
Coraline as a graphic novel is even scarier that the written version! I’m doing a project with my 14 year old students in Spain, reading the graphic novel in English and the book both in Catalan and Spanish, and the general opinion is that the drawings are very disturbing… but they really love them!if you have time, have a look at what they think about the characters in our blog:
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4 Stars creepy, but good. just don’t read it in the dark.
let me first state that i have not read the book version of this, so i have no means for comparison. i picked this up at the library as my first graphic novel ever, so i also have no sense of expertise on graphic novels or their quality/merit. so, that out of the way, i really enjoyed Coraline, although i think i would have enjoyed it even more if it hadn’t been dark outside when i read it. it was just a tad on the creepy side, which was definitely not what i was expecting from my first graphic novel. yeah, i’m a wuss.
the story naturally centers on a little girl named Coraline, whose family has just moved into a large estate that is shared by a couple of elderly ladies and their dogs, and an old man and his mice. they are all quirky and fun and keep Coraline occupied when she isn’t off exploring the land surrounding the property, as a latchkey kid of sorts. we jump right into the creepiness when Coraline finds a locked door that occasionally opens to another portion of the house, which brings her into an alternate version of her life, with zombie-like versions of everyone else.
my favorite part of this, being that it was my first graphic novel, was the art. i found myself lingering on the images, studying them, even when there was no text. there was an unbelievable amount of detail to the drawings, at times, that was really impressive. it could just be my lack of familiarity with graphic novels, but there was so much to take in that it was sometimes overwhelming.
the storyline itself was very simple and clearly written, which was pretty impressive considering how few words are really in the book. the characters could have been better developed, but i did appreciate how clever Coraline was when it became apparent that she might be stuck in her alternate life forever. as a pseudo coming-of-age book, and a definite nightmare inducing children’s book, this was a good choice and i’m glad i picked it up.
as my first graphic novel, i was very happy. it was simple and beautifully executed and has definitely opened me up to the potential of having the graphic novel make a more regular appearance on my bookshelf. and for that, i’m very thankful!
1 Stars A pitiful shadow of a great book
AVOID AT ALL COSTS!! The original Coraline book with illustrations from Dave McKean is amazing and wonderful. This graphic novel sucks all joy and inspiration from the original. McKean was able to say everything in a handful of illustrations and not only does P. Craig Russell not add a single thing to the story he actually takes away the imagination and visual playfulness. Buy the original book by Neil Gaiman with illustrations by Dave McKean.
5 Stars Coraline is great!
My little girl fell in love with the movie and when I saw this I had to pick it up for her. She loves this graphic novel and I would recommend for any Coraline fan 
2 Stars I thought I was getting a book
I didnt realize this was a graphic novel when i ordered it, so I was incredibly disappointed that I didnt get the book that I have been so excited to read. If you like graphic novels, then go for it. If you are looking for the book, be careful, this isnt it!
Filed under: Top Graphic Novels