This is about a very "different" girl named Coraline Jones She and her parents move into an old Queen Anne style house that has been subdivided into four flats The other tenants include Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, two elderly women retired from the stage, and Mr Bobo, who is training a mouse circus The flat beside Coraline's remains empty During a rainy day she discovers a locked door in the drawing room, which has been bricked up As she goes to visit her neighbors, Mr Bobo relates to her a message from the mice: Don't go through the door At tea with Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, Miss Spink spies danger in Coraline’s future after reading her tea leaves, and gives her a stone with a hole in it for protection Despite these warnings, Coraline decides to unlock the door when she is home by herself and finds the brick wall behind the door gone In its place is a long passageway, which leads to a flat identical to her own, inhabited by her Other Mother and Other Father, who are replicas of her real parents They have button eyes and exaggerated features In this “Other World”, Coraline finds everything to be better than her reality: her Other Parents are attentive, her toy box is filled with animate toys that can move and fly, and the Other Miss Spink and Miss Forcible forever perform a cabaret show in their flat She even finds the feral Black Cat that wandered around the house in the real world can talk, however she learns he is not of the Other World; he only travels from one world to another and he has come to warn Coraline of the imminent danger, but Coraline pays him no heed The Other Mother offers Coraline a chance to stay in the Other World forever, if Coraline will allow buttons to be sewn into her eyes Coraline is horrified and escapes back through the door to go home, much to the disappointment of the Other Mother Upon her return to her apartment, Coraline finds her real parents are missing They not return the next day, and the black cat wakes her and takes her to a mirror in her hallway, through which she can see her trapped parents They signal to her by writing "Help Us" on the glass, from which Coraline deduces the Other Mother has kidnapped them Though frightened of returning, Coraline goes back to the Other World to confront the Other Mother and rescue her parents In the garden, Coraline is prompted by the Cat to challenge the Other Mother, as “her kind of thing loves games and challenges” The Other Mother tries to convince Coraline to stay, but Coraline refuses, and is locked behind a mirror as punishment Coraline Jones A young explorer She is intelligent, curious, resourceful, and courageous Coraline is often irritated by rain, crazy grown-ups (as they all seem to be), and not being taken seriously because of her young age and quiet demeanor, though perhaps her biggest annoyance is that everyone mistakes her name for Caroline (everyone in the real world at least, except the mice and her parents) She's short, skinny and has black hair Mrs Jones – Coraline's mother She works at her house on the computer She is very busy most of the time, and sometimes a little inattentive, but she loves and cares about Coraline She is pretty, nice, and helpful, though Coraline considers her to be rather boring Coraline also gets annoyed with her real mother because she doesn't seem to want to let Coraline "fit in" Mr Jones – Coraline's father He works at his house on the computer He cares about Coraline very much and is kind, gentlemanly, brave, and helpful But, like her mother, Coraline finds him rather boring He also makes interesting food creations that Coraline strongly dislikes This makes Coraline very upset, which is also why she likes the Other World at first Coraline is a horror/fantasy novella by Neil Gaiman First Neil wrote the book, then it was turned into a graphic novel and later an animated film You can watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=Js7wxoqeVK0 In the darkness, she meets three ghost children, each from a different era, who had let the beldam (the Other Mother) sew buttons in their eyes They tell her how she eventually grew bored of them, ate their bodies, and cast their spirits aside The ghost children implore Coraline to avoid their fate, and to help find their souls so that they can leave the Other World and pass on After the Other Mother releases Coraline from the mirror, Coraline proposes a game in which she must find the ghost children’s souls and her parents, which lay hidden throughout the Other World If Coraline wins, she, her parents and the ghost children may go free If not, Coraline will let the Other Mother sew the buttons into her eyes Coraline goes through the Other World, and overcomes all the Other Mother’s obstacles, using her wits and Miss Spink’s stone to locate the ghost children’s souls At the close of the game, the ghost children warn her even if Coraline wins, the Other Mother will not let them go Having deduced her parents are imprisoned in the snow globe on the mantle, Coraline tricks the Other Mother by saying her parents are behind the door in the drawing room As the Other Mother opens the door, Coraline throws the cat at the Other Mother, grabs the snow globe, and escapes to the real world with the key In doing so, she forces the door shut on the Other Mother's hand, severing it Back in her home, Coraline finds her parents safe and with no memory of the events That night, Coraline has a dream in which she meets the three children before they move on to the afterlife They warn her, her task is still not done: the other mother's severed hand is in Coraline's world, attempting to steal the key which opens the door that connects the two worlds Coraline goes to an old well in the woods by her house, luring the Other Mother’s hand there with the key, and casts both down the bottomless well Coraline returns home, victorious, and prepares to go about the ordinary life she has come to accept and love If you decide to watch the film here are some points for discussion: • • • • • • • What things are the basic things for kids to have a good life? What should parents or make sure is available? Make a list of the ten most essential things! What needs Coraline’s parents meet and which don’t they meet? What does Coraline miss in her life in the Pink Palace? “The other home” – how the parents behave, how are they, and what they do? Make a comparison of the two homes and find out why Coraline likes to visit in the other home and maybe even stay there Is everything alright in “the other home”? What signs you see that indicate everything isn’t okay? • • • You: Your dad: Talk about witches from other books or films How many of them started out nice and friendly and later turned into vicious creature? Could the witches also be seen as mums or stepmoms? Explain What witches look like? Can they be beautiful? Why they behave the way they do? What can witches normally do? What does the witch in Coraline look like in her different stages? What does she want and what is her final goal? What does she want? Talk about doors – why you often find secrets behind a closed door? Why is it often a door that leads to another world? What does a door represent? What does an open door mean? What does a closed door mean? What does it take to open a closed door? Can you always open a door? Have you ever stood in front of a door you really would like to open? What was the secret of the door? What kind of world was behind the door? Your mom: