Book Review: Fortunately, The Milk ★★★★★

I am stepping out of my normal routine here and I like it! The book reviews I have been posting for the past few months have been me playing catch up with books read quite a while ago, but this book was read only the other day, and I just have to blog about it because it is so wonderful!



The first children's story book to have come from Gaiman's pen since The Graveyard Book in 2008, Fortunately, The Milk tells the story of a Human Dad who forgets to buy milk for his children's breakfast (and his cup of tea) and must make a trip to the corner shop to buy some. On the way he encounters aliens, dinosaurs, and Wampires, but fortunately, the milk saves the day.  

This isn't a long story, but it is an imaginative one. With illustrations by Chris Riddell bringing the story to life, Gaiman's words are sure to make adult and child giggle with delight. Now I may be a bit biased being a huge fan of Gaiman's work, but I genuinely find his creative mind to be fantastic, plus I really admire his little writing gazebo/cabin.
A wonderful adventure that could befall any of us as we pop to the shop for a pint of milk (not skimmed) ourselves, Gaiman has hit upon an every day occurrence that children can identify with and turned it into a marvelous adventure. The story telling reminds this reader of the stories told by her own father as a child, and I am sure they will do the same for children of all ages.

Marketed as being for children between the ages of 9 and 12, I think this book could also provide a dose of fun for ages both above and below that bracket, and I imagine many parents will enjoy sharing it with their own children.

My only gripe? The size. While I think the size is perfect for smaller hands, if jointly read by parent and child it may be a little difficult especially with a hard bound copy, and Riddell's illustrations would be wonderful in a larger format.

This is definitely a book I can see children I know enjoying, and I enjoyed it so much that at the half way point of reading my library copy I went and bought my own, and then the day after went and bought a copy to pass on to a friend. It is just that darn cute! 

The RRP is £10.99 for the hardback copy, and I happily paid £10 for mine in WHSmiths, but it is currently £5 at Tesco if you aren't sure and just want to give it a try (But I am going to have to link to The Book Depository, as neither of those places have it on their websites. Rubbish.)

★★★★★