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The Wolves in the Walls

No one believes Lucy when she tells her family that the sounds she hears in the walls are wolves. "They were hustling noises and bustling noises. They were crinkling noises and crackling noises. They were sneaking, creeping, crumpling noises." Besides, each member of her family says, "You know what they say…If the wolves come out of the walls, then it's all over." Only Lucy's beloved pig-puppet doesn't question her. When Lucy turns out to be right, her family's life is turned upside down. Driven from their home, her parents and brother contemplate where they might go. But for Lucy the only solution is to go back--to live in the very walls the wolves once occupied. In that cramped space, listening to the wolves wreak havoc as they smear her mother's homemade jam on the walls, play her father's second best tuba, and party like the animals they are, Lucy and her family are pushed beyond their limits and turn the table on the wolves. Neil Gaiman's inventive, original story is eery, ominous and funny, alternately understated and over the top with its humor. Gaiman's wonderful language and finely paced storytelling are complemented by Dave McKean's haunting, humorous illustrations that heighten each mood with every turn of the page. © Cooperative Children's Book Center

Illustrated by Dave McKean

CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 7-14
Age Range: PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7) Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10) Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13) Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format: Picture book
Subjects: Courage Families Fear Humor Scary Stories

Publisher: HarperCollins
Publish Year: 2003
Pages: 56
ISBN: 038097827X

CCBC Location: Picture Book, Gaiman

The Wolves in the Walls