Coraline is a wonderful book written by an amazing writer —a writer who has remarkable skill to weave stories that are appealing to both adults and children. The only person with that sort of talent is none other than Neil Gaiman.
Neil seems to have this innate ability to tell stories. Coraline is a simple story but will surely be enjoyed by a child. The beginning of the story is a typical move into a brand new home kind of story. Almost all horror novels and horror movies seem to thrive with this beginning technique. The house is large and Coraline goes exploring, and eventually she is asked not to do something, but as a child who is full of curiosity crosses the safety line and enters another realm which looks very much like her own house, but her mother and father are having buttons instead of eyes. ( They are called other mother and other father).
The setting of the novel is dark and gloomy. Imagine a stop animation setting. That is how it looks. The place is made up and surreal. The house eventually flattens as time goes by. The characters are limited but play an important role nonetheless. The old man upstairs, the two women, parents and the cat. These characters play an important point in propelling the novel. Obviously there are many influences of Alice in Wonderland and Narnia.
The important thing that can be learnt from this novel is that children should be brave and intelligent. That is the underlying message of the novel. I would give a ⅘ for this novel.