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Coraline doesn't find a rabbit-hole though; she finds a door, a door that opens into a flat that looks very much like her own, with people who look very much like her parents. But they are not her parents - who have suddenly gone missing - and it doesn't take Coraline very long to work out that her Other Mother has some very dark secrets indeed. Poor Coraline - with only a supercilious black cat to help her, she must rescue her parents and defeat the Other Mother once and for all. It's a tall order for a little girl, however big of heart...
... and Coraline is very big of heart. This new edition is out to tie in with a new animated film coming out this spring. The press sheet tells me it's um... ''the first high definition, stop-motion animated feature to be shot in 3D'', which sounds jolly impressive. I nosed on [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327597/maindetails IMDB] and I must say it also looks jolly impressive. The film is going to have to go some to beat this wonderful, wonderful book though. Often compared to [[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (150th Anniversary Edition) by Lewis Carroll and Anthony Browne|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland|Alice in Wonderland]], this is a surreal and shivery story full of menace. But it also has courage, heart, loyalty and love, and a big dollop of irresistible humour.
What strikes me most is how clever Gaiman is. ''Coraline'', just like ''Alice'', is easy to read. A keen reader as young as eight could happily attempt it. On the surface, it's a scary story about a brave little girl. But underneath, it's an existential battle for souls that gives pause for thought to any adult. And yet, the youngest of readers may not articulate some of the more subtle ideas, but they are bound to appreciate them. Alternate realities always offer a lot of what ifs and here Gaiman touches on the nature of evil, parenting, loyalties, trust and much more, always in the subtext and rarely in the open.
