Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman
I never pass up a children’s story written and read by Neil Gaiman. The stories he writes for kids are among his best work and they’re even better when he reads them himself. The audiobook version of Fortunately, the Milk (HarperAudio) would make a great gift for parents who travel with children. Fortunately, the Milk will keep the entire family happily entertained for 1 hour.
In this very amusing story, a boy and his little sister are stuck at home with Dad while Mum is out of town at a conference. Mum left instructions for Dad and reminded him that he needed to pick up a carton of milk before breakfast in the morning. Well, he forgot, and the kids are upset about not having milk for their cereal. So Dad puts down his paper and heads off to the corner market for milk. It takes a very long time for him to return. The kids figure that he saw one of his friends and started talking. When he finally gets home they accuse him of this, but Dad indignantly says that they have misjudged him.
In fact, what happened, Dad explains, is that when he walked out of the market, he was abducted by aliens who want to redecorate the Earth. When he escaped, he was on a ship full of blood-thirsty pirates, then there was a dinosaur in a time machine… and on it goes in a wacky surreal adventure that’s cleverly circular. Somehow, throughout it all, Dad luckily manages to hold on to the milk (and thus the title “Fortunately, the Milk”) and bring it home to the kids.
Fortunately, the Milk is silly and fun, especially when read by the oh, so charming Neil Gaiman who is a wonderful storyteller. Children and parents alike (especially the mothers) will not be able to resist it.
The print version of Fortunately, the Milk is wonderful, too. It’s hilariously illustrated by Skottie Young. I liked it so much that I bought a copy for my 8 year old nephew. My daughter Petra, who just turned 10 a few days ago, told me that she found a copy of the book in her new classroom at school. She’s enjoying it, too.
When Gaiman made an appearance here promoting THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE he read from this. It was great! I am so glad he reads some of his own work.
I always enjoy when authors can also perform their own work well, because it really enriches the experience for the reader. And who can resist anything drawn by Skottie Young?
This is one of the rare Neil Gaiman books I haven’t read but it looks delightful. Doesn’t he have the most charming voice?
Yes, I could listen to him read the phone book!