Coraline the Graphic Novel

I've never seen the movie or read the book so when I saw this adaptation at my local library, I thought it was worth the read. The "adapter" P. Craig Russell is the winner of the Harvey & Eisner Awards.

The story in the graphic novel undoubtedly follows that of the book and the movie. Coraline and her mother and father move into a large house that has been divided into several flats. Miss. Spink and Miss Forcible, retired actresses, live downstairs. An old man who claims to be training mice to perform in a circus lives upstairs. Coraline is bored in her new home and her trouble starts when she asks her mother where the door in the formal room leads. The real answer is a brick wall. However, in her explorations Coraline discovers her "other" mother.

I enjoyed this story told in this format because it was scary and a bit suspenseful; the pictures encouraged these feelings. What was left unsaid by the characters or word bubbles was almost as entertaining as what was said. The "other" mother with her button eyes and spidery fingers terrified me.

Children can learn many lessons from this adaptation of Coraline.

• Be thankful for what you have
• Going in search of entertainment can get you into trouble.

However, I worry about the fact that Coraline plays in a well in order to dupe her "other" mother's hand that crossed over from the other side. Growing up in rural Arkansas, my momma taught me to stay away from those things, even if they were boarded up.

I can see why Tim Burton turned this into a movie; the story is a little strange, just like him! I'd use this particular adaptation or parts of it with ESL students or students who have difficulty following a traditional narrative for reading skill level reasons.

In the long run, the graphic novel has a place in the development of modern literacy skills. Today's students need to train their eyes to take in the whole picture on a computer monitor- not just the words on a page.