Lucy is the first to go back into the house and save her pig-puppet, while the rest of her family is too afraid of the wolves. It is quite a simple story to follow, but please have a look at our visual story before booking if your child is younger or you think they might find it scary.

In October 2007 it was staged in New York, off Broadway at the New Victory Theater, for a two-week run. McKean's illustrations are not readily described, which is a good thing because that means they are not cliched or boring.Lots of dark shading and shadows make the wolves appear more frightening in comparison to the sketches of the wolves which, at times, show the wolves as charming or funny. It also manages to be cute while simultaneously disquieting, having a bit of an uncanny valley anxiety emitting from it as well as feeling like creepy puppets at times. This story opens up the opportunity to easily initiate and engage students in philosophical discussions about bravery, reality, and morality. P. Lovecraft’s “The Rats in the Walls” and the classic wolf-riddled admonitory bedtime stories like “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”? One of a number of children's book collaborations between author Neil Gaiman and illustrator Dave McKean - other titles include Coraline, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish and Crazy Hair - The Wolves in the Walls features an engrossing and somewhat creepy story, and mixed media artwork that perfectly captures the atmospheric thrills of Gaiman's text.

Or perhaps that should be a sheet of wallpaper’s breadth: in ‘The Wolves in the Walls’, young heroine Lucy does indeed hear howling and scratching coming from within her walls– something her parents dismiss, but not before ominously declaring ‘when the wolves come out or the walls, then it’s all over’. It does seem a bit dated with obviously older computer graphics elements but in a way I feel it almost adds to the story, aging it like a fine wine and enhancing the feeling this is an old tale passed down. Picturebook; post modernist; horror/thriller; Modern fantasy style with nonsense influences; cautionary tale; influences from boy who cried wolf, three little pigs, little red riding hood, Alice in wonderland.It is important to get the children thinking about the nature of the imagination and what truly makes something real. A self-confessed “feral kid who was raised in libraries”, Author of the Month Neil Gaiman, spent much of his childhood devouring the books of J. Here the nature of reality and what makes something alive presents itself, and it seems valid to ask whether Lucy’s closeness with her pig-puppet is any different than her friendship with other people.