In his recent post Is Coraline right for (insert age here)?, Neil Gaiman proves once again why I love his work and why he just won the Newbery Medal for the Graveyard Book. (For those not in the know, the Newbery Medal, awarded by the American Library Association, is pretty much the Nobel Prize for children's books, right down to frequently being awarded to obscure books that nobody reads. But not this year!)
When asked "if this film would be too scary for 6 years old." he says:
...and the only real reply I can give, is that it's a bit like saying "I'm planning to cook a mushroom omelette tomorrow, and do you feel this food would be welcomed by a six year old?"
Answer: I don't know. I don't know your six year old. They tend to like different things and respond differently. Does your six year old like mushrooms or omelettes?
But perhaps more to the point, he says:
As a general rule, Coraline the book is much creepier for adults than it is for kids, who tend to read it as an adventure. I suspect that this will be true of the film as well.
Um... Not sure if I buy that. Movies are big and loud. But what do I know. I like mushroom omelettes.
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More books bought at Stacey's:
Rough Guide to Belize
Insight Guides: Belize
Julie & Julia by Julie Powell
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Training to Imagine by my somewhat acquaintance and friend-of-friend Kat Koppett (daughter of hall-of-fame sportswriter Leonard Koppett)
I overheard a customer say to an employee:
"How long is the sale going on?"
"Until we closer our doors."
"Until you close your doors!"
There are still no signs saying they're closing, just sale signs.
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I must go to this (the image above is from this site):
The Art of CORALINE
Cartoon Art Museum exhibition:January 24 – February 15, 2009
re: coraline
ReplyDeleteI think that kids are much more able to deal with scary stuff than we give them credit for. They've all handled Harry Potter just fine. We have a 3D movie we show here @ the museum, and I tell adults that it is a PG movie for Dino on Dino violence. If a child is particularly sensitive, they shouldn't see it, but otherwise, it is just nature.
I dunno. I just worry that kids are too coddled and babied and we don't give them the opportunity to showwhat they're made of. If they handled the Brothers Grimm, they can take a little bit of button eyes.