Title: The Dangerous Alphabet
Authors: Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Gris Grimly
Copyright: 2008
Pages: 32
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4/5 stars
Finished: 4-30-08
Told through 13 rhyming couplets and accompanying illustrations, Neil Gaiman and Gris Grimly's The Dangerous Alphabet is a delightful (if suspiciously inaccurate) study of the alphabet. We follow the adventures of 2 children, their pet gazelle and their treasure map as they travel underground, on adventures both macabre and perilous, as the alphabet is presented in conjunction with the story.
The story is fun and the rhymes imaginative, but the art is the star here. Gris Grimly's illustrations bring the story to life, and really add an element of almost the grotesque to the story. From the almost rag doll likeness of the children, to the ghosts and ghoulies that inhabit the underground, Grimly's illustration are both beautiful and disturbing at the same time. Take time to study each page, as you'll discover something new each time you look at it.
4 comments:
Not that many people are as familiar with Mr Grimly's work as they are with Mr Gaiman's, so I'd like to direct them to Mad Creator Productions, Mr Grimly's website, where they can see more of his art (and maybe pick up a tshirt): http://www.madcreator.com/
Thanks for pointing out his website.
Reminds me a LOT of Al Columbia's work
I like this book, although I think it might have scared me as a child. Gris Grimly certainly has a cool artistic style. Sadly, it took me 2 readings to realize why the alphabet could not be trusted.
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