The Dangerous Alphabet Reviews

• Macabre and wonderful, but scary for young children

  
  By A4WMZWTXVNQZ2 on 2008-05-11
  Let me start by saying that I'm not sure I like this book. No, I like it. But my daughter doesn't. And she's the target age. Dangerous Alphabet is one of those hybrid books which are written for children, but which have a much older, more sardonic sense of humour in mind. Gaiman, a master of macabre, specialises in this. So while my five year old made me stop reading because she was "already getting nightmares and she hadn't even gone to bed yet", my ten year old absolutely loved it and kept trying to read it to his younger sister, despite her attempts to get him to stop and take that "horrible book away."
  
  If you buy it for a child that is of picture book age, you may well have a similar scenario. This is, as the title suggests, an alphabet book. But forget about sweet glittery things. A may be for "always", but the youngsters that enter this sewer of horrors soon discover that "E's for the evil that lures and entices", and "F is for Fear and its many devices". There are muffled screams, pies cooked with human looking bones, chained up children, piracy, skulls, vile deeds, and lots of monsters. In short, as is his wont, Gaiman has tapped into the psyche to produce a terrifying trip through an amusement park horror show.
  
  It's also extremely funny, in a black, gruesome way. Older children will love it. There is a little mix-up on the alphabet which children will feel good pointing out, and even a kind of happy ending as the boat comes through the tunnel to the letter Z, though I struggled to convince my daughter of that. The watercolour and ink illustrations are superb - incredibly detailed, with nightmarishly surreal imagery on every page. You might not want your child to look too closely though, as every element, from the chains on the author, the organs in jars, or the maggoty meat on a plate, comes straight from the deepest, most terrified parts of the human psyche. The humour (such as finding two well dressed lovebirds in a boat next to a monster--crossed tunnel-lines perhaps) requires an older perspective to appreciate.
  
  So, while I enjoyed this book for its originality, its anti-cuteness, the amazing detail and intensity of its horror, and the depth and cleverness of its naughty humour, I'm not sure I'd recommend that you buy it for your five year old daughter or niece. Squeamish parents probably won't appreciate it. But ten year old boys will, definitely.
  
  -- Magdalena Ball is the author of Sleep Before Evening
  
  

• A is for Always

  
  By A21BMW7W3RPG85 on 2008-05-10
  Oh this is so good.
  Its written the way that nightmares are supposed to be recorded. I mean-its an alphabet book for someone who is well aware of how the alphabet works. Its reminiscent of 'The Gashlycrumb Tinies' but this is creative and new in is own right. And none of the characters die.
  You could almost expect to see this organized as poetry -although the illustrations really bring the language to life. very compatible-Gaiman and Grimly.
  My favorite page is 'B is for Boat, pushing off in the dark'(the barbed wire and the vulture and the sense that these awful things are preferable to drifting into the darkness).
  You kind of get lost in the story...Made aware that the author is no longer Neil Gaiman but a tree monster with sprawling roots and draped in a chains ('I am the author who scratches these rhymes')
  This is taunting and relentless-unlike many "scary" books for children these days; this one does not bring comfort in the end...maybe indifference...definetely not comfort.
  This is a little grim. But it is so fun.
  
  
  

• Edward Gorey-ish

  
  By ASTAXX8OJB1ZP on 2008-06-06
  This is a dangerous journey through a dangerous series of letters in more or less the established order - wonderfully creepy illustrations. I don't have kids myself, but I doubt it should be used to actually teach little ones the alphabet - unless you are the Addams family.
  
  

• great

  
  By AA7W0CFRXF46L on 2008-05-20
  this alphabet book was almost reminiscent of that tim burton book for kids in that it picks up on a darker mood, but in my opinion it was done much better than tim burton's. it was about these two kids who go on an adventure in some sort of sewer and come across these monsters who want to do bad things to the kids, but they escape by the end. the book rhymes and there's one line per page, which is accompanied by a great illustration depicting the rhyme. the illustrations match the overall mood of the book, and an example can be seen on the cover. i don't know if it's for young children, though i'd try anyways as everything is so white washed nowadays and anything not max and ruby sets your heart racing. it was well done though.
  
  

• very entertaining

  
  By A2EVR1T3PMXIWH on 2008-06-23
  Pretty much everything Neil Gaiman does is brilliant, and I'm new to the work of Gris Grimly but was very impressed by his art in this book. I thought the story that was told through the couplets and accompnying pictures was very fun and whimsical, and I greatly enjoyed it. I have to agree with some of the other reviewers that it may be a little too scary for young readers, but for me it was great.
  
  
• ABC of Adventure
  By AKCJU2R14X20X on 2008-06-13
  It's dangerous to open this book without the proper precautions; pass the pages with the knowledge that you'll never know what kind of perils the next letter of the alphabet will show (and be warned: the book warns you that not all letters are where they're supposed to... so do not trust the authors!).
  
  Neil Gaiman's words have been given life by Gris Grimly's amazing doodles where you will find not only an interpretation of the text but also other things (and some of them are scary) that share the page's protagonist letter.
  
  So, you've forewarned: Once you open the book and start reading, it will be risky to put it down until you reach the last page!
  
  
• Another Gaiman hit!
  By A1MLDJTI8FWNZE on 2008-06-28
  This book is great. I can't wait to have kids and share the joy that is this book with them! There is so much going on in the pictures, you feel as though they are moving. The illustrations come to life in this simple, dark, childrens's story.
  
  
• The Art is the Star in this Book
  By A12HI5D3C2EGWJ on 2008-06-04
  Told through 13 rhyming couplets and accompanying illustrations, Neil Gaiman and Gris Grimly's The Dangerous Alphabet is a delightful (if suspiciously inaccurate) study of the alphabet. We follow the adventures of 2 children, their pet gazelle and their treasure map as they travel underground, on adventures both macabre and perilous, as the alphabet is presented in conjunction with the story.
  
  The story is fun and the rhymes imaginative, but the art is the star here. Gris Grimly's illustrations bring the story to life, and really add an element of almost the grotesque to the story. From the almost rag doll likeness of the children, to the ghosts and ghoulies that inhabit the underground, Grimly's illustration are both beautiful and disturbing at the same time. Take time to study each page, as you'll discover something new each time you look at it.
  
  
• Not his best, but still a blast
  By A1SORZL733985Z on 2008-06-26
  This is not for the age group an alphabet book would be aimed at. It is for slightly older kids, say those who can handle "A Nightmare Before Christmas", and off center adults. A fun Gaiman romp, but also a bit overpriced. Cashing in time, I'm afraid. In the past this may have been a DC comic or trade paperback (like Stardust originally was) but now you have to shell out for the hardback.
  
  
• Not bad, but not great either.
  By A2FS82KFC4NUNR on 2008-07-10
  This picture book, written by Neil Gaiman of Sandman fame and illustrated by Gris Grimly, is very different from the other picture books in that it's terribly short and there's not as much words. It's basically a flowing poem that's derived from the english alphabet, and to give Neil credit, it's a reasonably good poem too; it's very flowing and very whimsical and very funny in a dark way. I found myself amused at the beautiful images Gris came up with to accompany the words. But to be honest, picture book or not, there's not much story here and you will find yourself wanting more. It's obviously due to the concept of using the alphabet to tell the story getting above the story itself.
  
  Gris Grimly did a wonderful job with it though, so if you want to get this book, get it for his art.
  
  I think Neil never intended this to be a children's book but you may get this for your child if he or she's at least watched cartoons where similar themes have been shown, because although the story's quite light and funny for young adults and teenagers, it may scare 5-10 years olds.
  
  

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