The Neil Gaiman Audio Collection [Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Neil Gaiman (Narrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Four of beloved author Neil Gaiman's delightfully scary, strange, and hilarious children's tales read by the author, now available unabridged. This collection includes:

The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish: An unforgettable story that will take readers on a journey into the murky mind of a young boy and the perils of striking a bargain.

The Wolves in the Walls: Lucy is sure there are wolves living in the walls of their house -- and, as everybody says, if the wolves come out of the walls, it's all over. Her family doesn't believe her. Then one day, the wolves come out.

Cinnamon: This charming fable of an exotic princess who refuses to speak currently exists only on Neil's official website and has never been published in print or any other format.

Crazy Hair: Bonnie tries to comb the narrator's crazy hair -- where gorillas leap and tigers stalk -- and is in for a surprise in this delightful rhyming tale.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. As author Gaiman demonstrated on his recording of his first children's novel, Coraline, he's more than up to the task of reading his work with great style. Here, again, he performs as a consummate storyteller, reading four stories, two of which have been published as picture books. Gaiman has a slow, suspense-building pace and a slightly ominous tone on "The Wolves in the Walls," in which Lucy tries to warn her preoccupied family of what the creaking, crackling, scritching, scratching noises in their house must surely be. "On The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish," Gaiman's first picture book, the author/narrator rolls along at a jaunty, entertaining clip. On "Crazy Hair," Gaiman is sprightly, reading this silly rhyming poem about the very wild 'do of the 11-year-old narrator, big enough to house nesting birds and lions making a lair, and very resistant to brushing. Listeners and fans are also treated to a reading of "Cinnamon," a colorful original fable about a princess who refuses to speak (though a tiger in the exotically set tale has lots to say). which had previously appeared only on Gaiman's Web site. Gaiman's daughter Maddy conducts a warm, revealing and lively interview with her dad that is likely to charm listeners of all ages. Ages 5-up. (Nov. 2004)
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About the Author

Neil Gaiman’s bestselling novels include Neverwhere, American Gods, Coraline, Anansi Boys, and Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett). He is the creator of the Sandman series of graphic novels and author of the short-fiction collections Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things. The winner of numerous literary honors, Gaiman is originally from England but now lives in America.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Audio CD
• Publisher: HarperChildren's Audio; Unabridged edition (August 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060732989
• ISBN-13: 978-0060732981
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 4.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #599,007 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I make things up and write them down. Which takes us from comics (like SANDMAN) to novels (like ANANSI BOYS and AMERICAN GODS) to short stories (some are collected in SMOKE AND MIRRORS) and to occasionally movies (like Dave McKean's MIRRORMASK or the NEVERWHERE TV series, or my own short film A SHORT FILM ABOUT JOHN BOLTON).

In my spare time I read and sleep and eat and try to keep the blog at www.neilgaiman.com more or less up to date.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming, funny and eerie., February 11, 2005

By 

BarkLessWagMore (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Neil Gaiman Audio Collection (Audio CD)

I enjoyed this CD very much. As expected, the stories all written for children, were all peopled with oddball characters and fantastical plots. "Wolves In The Walls" begins when a young girl begins to hear odd sounds emanating from within the walls. She's eventually told by per parents the sounds are the wolves that live in the walls and if they get out "it's all over!". They don't seem too worried about it however as they carry on with their distracted lives (distracted and otherwise occupied parents seems to be an ongoing theme with Gaiman). This is a wonderfully eerie little tale and it's read perfect by Gaiman (as they all are). "Cinnamon" is the story of a young princess who will not speak. Her vexed family promises great riches to anyone who can force her to speak. A very-sure-of-himself tiger arrives to do the job correctly. The ending of this one had me grinning. "The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish" is a great story about another otherwise occupied parent. This time he gets traded away for two goldfish who interest his son much more than he does. Trouble arises when the boy realizes he's in big trouble when mom returns home! The final story is a poem called "Crazy Hair" which any kid who has ever moaned at having his/hair brushed can relate to. The disk ends with a sweet interview of the author who is questioned by his young daughter.

I've already listened to this twice and will probably read it several more times on my portable player because it's so darned charming.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beware - Copy Protected, August 27, 2005

By 

Michael S. Ball (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Neil Gaiman Audio Collection (Audio CD)

Though the content of this CD is great, beware if you plan to
listen to it on your computer or your IPOD. This disk contains
one of the "copy protection" kludges that have become popular, and
cannot be played on many computer CD drives. There are ways around
it, but it's a royal pain not to be able just to use the CD.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, poetic, layered. If only all kid's lit were. . ., November 26, 2005

By 

E. M. Rivera (San Juan, PR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Neil Gaiman Audio Collection (Audio CD)

Gaiman is a gifted storyteller, and I believe he is at his best in short genres: short stories, children's fiction, poetry. This is a well chosen collection of 4 short pieces and a charming interview (by the author's daughter daughter). Gaiman's interpretations of his work are excellent, and the whole collection left me wanting more. It's children's literature at its best, in the hands of an author who does not equate childhood with idiocy.