The Graveyard Book audiobook

I read this to Celyn but the 5* are from both of us. I think I probably enjoyed it more than she did in fact.It's a fine book. I can see why it's done so well. The story is well structured, the brutal opening providing an orphan, a mystery, and an ongoing threat. Thereafter the book slowly cycles back around to its beginning and in the mean time raises our young Bod, equipping him with the skills to deal with his problem.Bod's life in the graveyard is very interesting, with him learning various bits of magic and magical lore from the dead. With hundreds of ghosts spanning several thousand years there's all manner of opportunity for interest and I enjoyed Bod's interactions with them.We watch Bod grow up, be educated, and make ventures into the living world. The whole thing crept up on me. I was gently entertained throughout but by the end I found myself really caring about the story.The end was really quite emotional in that Toy Story III sort of 'leaving the nest' way that punches parents in the gut. I think Celyn got a bit irritated as I kept pausing to gather myself to read the next line.Anyway. A curious and highly entertaining book thick with inventiveness and written with deceptive skill. Join my Patreon Join my 3-emails-a-year newsletter #prizes.

It takes a graveyard to raise a childNobody Owens (yes, that's his name) becomes orphaned at an early age when an unknown "Jack" murders his entire family.What's surprising is that Nobody doesn't even notice - the kid is too excited that the house door is open and toddles off for adventure. He ends up at the local graveyard. The local ghosts see Jack's intentions and decide to grant Nobody the Protection of the Graveyard. A childless ghost couple adopts the toddler and a vampire becomes his guardian. Together, the graveyard and its inhabitants, seek to raise the living boy - through love, moral guidance and, of course, the finest education the dead could offer. "Name the different kinds of people," said Miss Lupescu. "Now."Bod thought for a moment. "The living," he said. "Er. The dead." He stopped. Then, "... Cats?" This book spans Nobody's entire childhood with each chapter as a vignette, covering the biggest adventure that happened that year.One year he's meeting new human friends, the next going on adventures with a hanged witch or running from very, very hungry ghouls. Since there is only a snippet of each year's adventure, I became frustrated when the adventure was over but not wrapped-up. (i.e. the Macabray: the dance of the living and the dead, was not ever touched on again but it was by-far one of the most curious happenings in that little graveyard)Some of the more interesting graveyard happenings (i.e. Silas (the vampire) and Miss Lupesco's adventures) were only spoken of in the vaguest of terms. Nobody Owens is a child for most of the book and this is told from his perspective...so it makes sense that he would not know about the full adventure. Yet as the reader, I still wanted to know what happened!Overall, this is definitely one my favorite Gaiman novels! Definitely check it out. Audiobook Comments--Narrated by the author: CHECK! Neil Gaiman has an absolutely wonderful reading voice--This audiobook has a some musical accompaniment (Notably during the Macabray dance) which made listening to it extremely memorable!YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads

I’ve noticed that there’s been an increased interest in the macabre in children’s literature lately. Sometimes when I’ve had a glass or two of wine and I’m in a contemplative mood I try weaving together a postulation that ties the current love of violent movies into this rise in children’s literary darkness. Is the violence of the world today trickling down into our entertainment? Hogwash and poppycock and other words of scoff and denial, says sober I. But I’ve certainly seen a distinct rise in the Gothic and otherworldly over the last few years, and one wonders if it’s because kids want more of that kind of stuff or publishers are merely getting less squeamish. All that aside, generally I’ll read a May Bird book or an Everlost title and they’ll be fun examinations of the hereafter, but not the kind of things that touch my heart. Great writing doesn’t have to transcend its genre. It just has to be emotionally honest with the reader. And The Graveyard Book is one of the most emotionally honest books I’ve yet to have read this year. Smart and focused, touching and wry, it takes the story of a boy raised by ghosts and extends it beyond the restrictive borders of the setting. Great stuff.It starts with three murders. There were supposed to be four. The man Jack was one of the best, maybe THE best, and how hard is it to kill a toddler anyway? But on that particular night the little boy went for a midnight toddle out the front door while the murderer was busy and straight into the nearby graveyard. Saved and protected by the denizens of that particular abode (the ghosts and the far more corporeal if mysterious Silas), the little boy is called Bod, short for Nobody because no one knows his name. As he grows older, Bod learns the secrets of the graveyard, though he has to be careful. The man (or is it “men”?) who killed his family could come back for him. Best to stay quiet and out of sight. Yet as Bod grows older it becomes clear that hiding may not be the best way to confront his enemies. And what’s more, Bod must come to grips with what it means to grow up. Can I level with you? You know Coraline? Mr. Gaiman’s previous foray into middle grade children’s literature. Come close now, I don’t want to speak too loudly. Uh... I didn’t much care for it. WAIT! Come back, come back, I didn’t mean it! Well, maybe I did a tad. It was a nice book. A sufficient story. But it was very much (new category alert) an adult-author-to-children’s-author-first-timer-title. Gaiman appeared to be finding his sealegs with Coraline. He took the old Alice in Wonderland trope which adult authors naturally gravitate to on their first tries (see: Un Lun Dun, Summerland, The King in the Window, etc.). Throw in some rats, bees, and buttons, and voila! Instant success. But Coraline for all its readability and charm didn’t get me here [thumps chest:]. I didn’t feel emotionally close to the material. Now why it should be that I’d feel closer emotionally to a book filled with a plethora of ghosts, ghouls, night-gaunts, and Hounds of God, I can only chalk up to The Graveyard Book's strong vision. My husband likes to say that the whole reason Buffy the Vampire Slayer worked as a television show was that it was a natural metaphor for the high school (and eventually college) experience. Likewise, The Graveyard Book has this strong,strange, wonderful metaphor about kids growing up, learning about the wider world, and exploring beyond the safe boundaries of their homes. There's so much you can read into this book. I mean, aren’t all adults just ghosts to kids anyway? Those funny talking people whose time has passed but that may provide some shelter and wisdom against the wider, crueler world. Plus Mr. Gaiman also includes characters in Bod's world that kids will wish they had in their own. Silas, a man who may be a vampire (though the word is never said) is every child's fantasy; A mysterious/magical guardian/friend who will tell you the truth when your parents will not. One thing I particularly liked about the book was the fact that Bod makes quite a few careless or thoughtless mistakes and yet you don’t feel particularly inclined to throttle him because of them. Too often in a work of fiction a person isn’t properly put into the head of their protagonist. So when that character walks off and does something stupid there’s the sense (sometimes faint, sometimes not) that they deserved it and you’re not going to stick around and read about somebody that dumb, are you? But even when Bod is at his most intolerable, his most childishly selfish and single-minded, you can understand and sympathize with him. Bod is no brat, a fact that implies right there that he is someone worth rooting for. We see our own young selves in Bod, and we root for him as a result. And as Bod reaches each stage in his growth, he encounters experiences and personalities that help him to reach maturity. That’s a lot to put on the plate of a l’il ole fantasy novel, particularly one that’s appropriate for younger kids. And it is appropriate too. Don’t let the fact that the first sentence in the book (“There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife”) put you off. The murder of Bod’s family is swift, immediate, and off-screen. What remains is just a great fantasy novel that has the potential to appeal to both boy and girl readers. Kid wants a ghost story? Check. Kid wants a fantasy novel set in another world appropriate for Harry Potter fans? Check. Kid wants a “good book”. That’s my favorite request. When the eleven-year-old comes up to my desk and begs for “a good book” I can just show them the cover and the title of this puppy and feel zero guilt when their little eyes light up. A good book it is. I guess that if I have any objections at all to the title it has something to do with the villains. They’re a bit sketchy, which I suppose is the point, but we live in an era where children’s fantasy novels spend oodles of time defining their antagonists’ motivations and histories. Gaiman’s more interested in his hero, which is natural, but the villains’ raison d’être is just a bit too vague for the average reader. Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that Bod’s family is slaughtered at the start of this tale you wouldn’t necessarily know whether or not to believe that these people are as nasty as we've been told. That said the book’s a peach. I once heard someone postulate that maybe Neil Gaiman wrote it just so that he could play with the sentence “It takes a graveyard to raise a child.” Unlikely. Fun, but unlikely. I mean, he does make a casual allusion that isn’t far off from that phrase, but he never goes whole hog. This book doesn’t feel like it was written to back up a joke. It feels like a book written by a parent with children growing up and moving out. It’s a title that tips its hat to kids making their way in the world, their pasts behind them, their futures unknown. This is not yet another silly little fantasy novel, but something with weight and depth. The fact that it just happens to be loads of fun to boot is simply a nice bonus. Highly recommended.Ages 10 and up.

I just don't think Neil Gaiman can write something I won't enjoy. His worlds are so rich and visceral, his characters so unique and loveable. I loved this story, loved Bod with all my heart, and was proud of him as he grew up. I listened to this audiobook, narrated by Neil Gaiman, and it was top notch. Can't wait for my next

When a family is murdered by a mysterious killer, one of the intended victims is missing, a young, diapered boy, who had wandered off just before the crime took place. But the killer needed to complete the job. Fortunately for the boy, he was taken in by the late residents of a nearby graveyard. And when the spirit of his newly deceased mother asks for their help, the residents agree to raise her son. He is given to the care of the Owens couple and named “Nobody,” Bod for short, as he looks like “nobody but himself.”Neil Gaiman - from The Verge In this Newbery Medal, Carnegie Medal and Hugo Award winning novel, it takes a graveyard to raise an actual corporate being, and there are many who chip in. Perhaps most important is Silas, resident of the worlds of the dead and the living. As Bod grows there are many interesting sorts who cross his path, a young witch lacking a gravestone, an unscrupulous dealer in antiques, a snake-like protector of a long-dead master, and an array of teachers. And there must, of course, be a girl, Scarlett by name, a living girl. Bod does venture out into the unprotected world beyond the graveyard gates, not always with permission. He wants to go to school like other kids, and does, with mixed results. He wants to buy a headstone for a friend who lacks one. He wants to spend time with Scarlett. As he enters his teen years, he determines to find the person who had killed his family.This is not your usual coming-of-age story. Bod is indeed a likeable kid, good-hearted, innocent, easy to care about. One of Gaiman’s inspirations for this story was Kipling’s The Jungle Book, with Bod as Mowgli and the graveyard residents substituting, sometimes generically, for their animal counterparts in the earlier work. There is a section equivalent to Mowgli having been kidnapped by monkeys, a werewolf might be Akela. Bod’s nemesis is the killer Jack, the Shere-Khan of this tale. Each chapter jumps in time, and we see Bod take on new challenges as he ages. Of course, his home being a graveyard, the challenges he faces are not pedestrian. And finally, he faces an adult, mortal test that will define whether he actually gets to come of age or not. There is so much in The Graveyard Book that is just flat-out charming that you will find, as I did, that your lips keep curling up at the corners. From Bod trying to find properly fitting clothing, to struggling to learn some of the unusual skills the locals have mastered, to coping with some of the lesser baddies who make life difficult for those around them, Bod will gain your allegiance and your affection. The baddie, Jack, is a purely dark sort. No gray areas there. And that makes the central conflict one of pretty much pure good, against completely pure evil. There are plenty of moments of real danger for Bod and that keeps tension high. But there are nuances to other characters that add color and texture to what might otherwise have become a flat gray panel. These additions add heft to the story, and make one wonder larger thoughts about the limits of change, of redemption. This one is easy to recommend, to kids of all ages, but don’t wait too long. You never know when it might be…you know…too late. PS – Disney has acquired the film rights for this and it is likely that it will emerge, someday, with a look similar to that of Coraline and The Nightmare Before Christmas.=============================EXTRA STUFFLinks to the author’s personal, Twitter, FB and TumblrThe official website for the bookNeil Gaiman reads the entire bookThis Literary Wiki page seems rather slightI also reviewed Gaiman's -----Stardust, briefly, a few back-----The Ocean at the End of the Lane in August 2013-----Trigger Warning in March 2015-----The View From the Cheap Seats in June 2016

5+ StarsMaybe the Gaiman curse is over for me because I loved this book.As those who follow my reviews may know, I have been trying Gaiman for years without much luck. I could never really put my finger on it except for two things:- Sometimes it felt like it was being artsy and weird in order to be cool and trendy- Often the magic and supernatural happenings felt contrived and convenient. Fantasy is made up, but it should not feel like it is made up.However, I did not encounter that at all with The Graveyard Book. The fantastical story was unique, flowed organically, and was super fun. While it was a bit dark in places, it was not scary - a light-hearted ghost story most of the time. The characters were excellent and I enjoyed my journey with them - I did not want it to end and I hated saying goodbye.I highly recommend this one and will more than likely be pointing fellow readers to this one if they want to try Gaiman.So . . . the curse is broken . . . will I have additional success if I try others or do I end my pursuit on top?

The Graveyard Book, Neil GaimanThe Graveyard Book is a children's fantasy novel by the English author Neil Gaiman, simultaneously published in Britain and America during 2008. The Graveyard Book traces the story of the boy Nobody "Bod" Owens who is adopted and raised by the supernatural occupants of a graveyard after his family is brutally murdered. The story begins as Jack (usually referred to in the novel as "the man Jack") murders most of the members of a family (later revealed to be the Dorian family) except for the toddler upstairs. Unknown to him, the toddler has climbed out of his crib to explore. The toddler crawls out of the house and up a hill to a graveyard where the ghosts find him. They discuss whether to keep him until the Lady on the Grey (implied to be the Angel of Death) appears and suggests that the baby should be kept ("The dead should have charity"). The ghosts accept, and Mrs. Owens (the ghost who first discovered the baby) and her husband, Mr. Owens, become the foster parents. The baby is named Nobody Owens (since Mrs. Owens declares "He looks like nobody except himself") and is granted the Freedom of the Graveyard, which allows Nobody to pass through solid objects when in the graveyard, including its gates. The caretaker Silas (subsequently implied to be an ancient and formerly evil vampire, now reformed) accepts the duty of providing for Nobody. The man Jack is persuaded by Silas that the toddler has crawled down the hill, and he eventually loses the trail. The bulk of the book is about Nobody's (often called Bod) adventures in and out of the graveyard as he grows up. As a boy, he befriends a girl called Scarlett Perkins, and she is eventually convinced by her mother that he is her imaginary friend. It is with her that Bod discovers a creature called the Sleer, who has been waiting for thousands of years for his "Master" to come and reclaim him. The Sleer's greatest duty is to protect the Master and his treasure from the world. Scarlett's parents believe she has gone missing during this adventure and when she returns, consequently decide to move the family to Scotland. Nobody is once captured by the Ghouls and then rescued by his tutor Miss Lupescu, discovering she is a Hound of God (i.e. a werewolf). Bod befriends Elizabeth Hempstock, the ghost of an unjustly executed witch and through a short adventure that includes being kidnapped by a greedy pawnshop owner, finds a gravestone for her. Once he tries to attend regular primary school with other human children, but it ends in a disaster when two bullies make it impossible for him to maintain a low profile. Throughout his adventures, Bod learns supernatural abilities such as Fading (allows Bod to turn invisible, but only if no one is paying attention to him), Haunting (which allows Bod to make people feel uneasy, though this ability can be amplified to terrify them), and Dream Walking (going into others' dreams and controlling the dream, though he cannot cause physical harm). These abilities are taught to Bod by his loving graveyard parents, his ghost teacher Mr. Pennyworth, and Silas. ...تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز سی ام ماه ژوئن سال 2011میلادیعنوان: کتاب گورستان؛ نویسنده: نیل گیمن؛ مترجم: فرزاد فربد؛ تصویرگر: کریس ریدل؛ تهران، کتاب پنجره، 1388، در 308ص، مصور، شابک9789647822596؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده 21مبا ترجمه: کیوان عبیدی آشتیانی؛ تصویرگر: دیو مک کین؛ تهران، افق، 1388، در 419ص، مصور، شابک 9789643696337؛داستان «کتاب گورستان» در ژانر فانتزی برای کودکان نوشته شده است و داستان کودکی را روایت می‌کند که در گورستانی متروک در میان ارواح بزرگ می‌شود؛ داستان پسری است که توسط مردگان، به فرزندی پذیرفته می‌شود؛ او از ارواح، نیروهای فراطبیعی، ناپدید شدن را می‌آموزد؛ و با موجودات شروری روبرو می‌شود؛ قاتلی، نیمه‌ شب، سه تن از اعضای خانواده را به قتل می‌رساند و به سوی اتاق آخرین قربانی خود، فرزند هجده‌ ماهه خانواده می‌رود؛ اما او در تختخواب خود نیست؛ کودک نوپا به تازگی راه رفتن آموخته است و نیمه شب در خانه را باز می‌کند، به خیابان قدم می‌گذارد و سر از قبرستانی قدیمی و متروک درمی‌آورد؛ ارواح گورستان از او در برابر قاتل نگهبانی می‌کنند؛ آقا و خانم «اونز»، زوجی از ارواح گورستان مسئولیت نگهداری از کودک را می‌پذیرند و نام «نوبادی» را بر او می‌گذارند؛ «باد (کوتاه شده ی نوبادی)» در میان آنان بزرگ می‌شود، و دانش‌ها و مهارت‌های بسیاری همچون رفتن به خواب دیگران، محو شدن و رد شدن از میان اشیا را از آنان کسب می‌کند.؛ سال‌ها می‌گذرد اما هنوز خطری در دنیای بیرون از گورستان، «باد» را تهدید می‌کند؛ «جک»، قاتل خانواده ی «باد» که موفق به کشتن کوچکترین فرد خانواده نشده بود، هنوز به دنبال اوست.؛ ...؛تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 25/09/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 15/07/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

Ho-ly shit. You guys!https://emmareadstoomuch.wordpress.co...I just managed to get through a book - a whole freaking book - with no blatant sexism, racism, homophobia, girl-on-girl hate, instances of the beloved not like other girls trope, love triangles, flat characters, overused archetypes, that p

Nobody is slowly aging toward adulthood In a very special kind of patchwork familyAs if normal parents weren´t already strange enough, the protagonist Nobody aka Bod has to deal with the upbringing ideas of paranormal beings. But it seems to somehow work well, and it could be an idyllic time if there weren´t Real people making more trouble than ghosts and magic creaturesThat´s an achievement in malice, being worse than evil demons and bloodthirsty fantasy creatures that have to kill to survive, but psycho killer humans just roll that way too. The fact that Nobody could live a, under these circumstances more or less, normal life, without bad reality messing things up, is a cynical comment on how crazy people are. Jumping between family life, coming of age, fantasy horror, and human world troublesBy mixing 4 levels of different suspense generators, Gaiman creates one of his most dynamic works, making it tricky to impossible to guess where it will go. Anytime a psycho killer, ghoul, or just a friendly Casper style ghost could appear, making it unpredictable until the last minute. It´s also one of Gaimans´darkest works Hope and love are the only really positive things in this grim setting. But Nobody stays highly motivated, helps with different paranormal graveyard problems just a living body can solve, and pimps his abilities for the end fight. By this, he can integrate even more complex plot and trope options, adding an extra layer of paraphysical mind penetration. Because Dreamwalking, fading, and haunting are subtle ways to evolve for a characterIt´s also cool that it goes without any physical violence, except for fear and some possible traumatic issues cut into the victims' shattered soul. But that´s nothing compared to getting burned by magic flames, zombified, vampirized, or bewitched by an incubi or succubi. Mh, sexy naughty adult ed dreamwalking. But this having kids one doesn´t know about afterward and that are partly demon is something too pricy for the fun. Or is it? Death is the core of the taleNo other of Gaimans´novels is so Day of the Dead. It´s a morbid optimistic celebration of the fact that, even after death, there may lie endless options of what to do with one's soul in eternity. Subjectively I deem this „Death is just a new beginning“ message the main core of Nobodys´journey, everyone still lucky enough to be alive should absorb and practice. As long there is still time to.Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

This is how it usually goes with me and Neil Gaiman books:Scene: at the library.Picks up Stardust and reads back flap... thinks, "hey, this looks like a great book. What an interesting idea for a story..." When actually reading Stardust: bored.A couple months later. At the library.Picks up Neverwhere... thinks, "hmmm. This looks really interesting, but that's what I thought about Stardust. Well, maybe I'll give him one last chance." When actually reading Neverwhere: stupid last chances!!!So I was a little hesitant to pick up The Graveyard Book. Again, the idea is interesting - a toddler's family is killed, and he's raised in a graveyard by ghosts - but Gaiman's books have seemed interesting to me before. So it's with gratitude that I say:Finally. FINALLY! To me, this book (at long last) connected. I loved the characters and the concept, and the actual text seemed to flow and be more engaging than the previous books I'd read. I'm glad I gave Gaiman's books one more last chance after the last last chance. I may even try one more.

The riproaring adventures of Huck Finn's wiser half-brother; Harry Potter's long lost second cousin. A Mowgli doppleganger, admittedly so.When Tim Burton died*, the void was taken up, wholly, by Mr. Gaiman. When will "The Graveyard Book" become a film? Cannot wait to watch singin'/dancin' ghosts, not the usual rerecycled shit from some Disney classic. Hey, it worked like a charm with "Coraline"!*career-wise & art-wise

Award winning children's / fantasy book, and without doubt the best Gaiman I've read, and I'm very far from a fan of his. Nobody Owens' family are brutally slain in a graveyard; he is the only survivor and ends up being brought up by, and amongst, the supernatural dwellers of the graveyard. A book that gets better and better as it progresses with a charming constructed reality that sits alongside a conventional reality.On this book alone, I've decided to try more Gaiman after giving up on his work a few years ago. 8 out of 12... although the GIF below states what I think will happen when I read more Gaiman...2019 read