Vanessa Stephan

This conversation reminded me of something Neil Gaiman said a few months
ago in an interview with the Star Tribune.

"The strange thing about 'Coraline' is every now and then I run into adults
who are really disturbed and upset by it," said Gaiman. "But so far, I have
yet to run into any kids who saw it as anything other than a roller-coaster
ride. I don't know whether it's because kids have a better sense of what is
reality and what is fantasy than adults, but that's very true. Kids know
what is real and what isn't."

Perhaps, he said, kids and adults "are reading different genres. Kids are
reading a book about someone like them who is going up against something
scary and triumphing. Adults are reading a book about a child in danger. A
child in danger is a different kind of story; it particularly troubles
adults. But I think it's very good for kids to be told that the world is
not always a safe and hospitable place."