The Neil Gaiman Audio Collection

By: Neil Gaiman

Narrated by: Neil Gaiman

Length: 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

Four of beloved author Neil Gaiman's delightfully scary, strange, and hilarious children's tales read by the author, now available unabridged. This collection includes: 

"The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish" 

An unforgettable story that will take listeners on a journey into the murky mind of a young boy and the perils of striking a bargain. 

"The Wolves in the Walls" 

Lucy is sure there are wolves living in the walls of their house, and, as everybody says, if the wolves come out of the walls, it's all over. Her family doesn't believe her. Then one day the wolves come out. 

"Cinnamon" 

This charming fable of an exotic princess who refuses to speak currently exists only on Neil's official website and has never been published in print or any other format. 

"Crazy Hair" 

Bonnie tries to comb the narrator's crazy hair, where gorillas leap and tigers stalk, and is in for a surprise in this delightful rhyming tale. 

©1997, 2003, 2004 Neil Gaiman (P)2004 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Critic Reviews

Audie Award Finalist, Children's Titles for Ages up to 8, 2005

"[Gaiman is] more than up to the task of reading his work with great style.... He performs as a consummate storyteller." (Publishers Weekly)

Great story and he is an excellent narrator, too

I myself listened to his book called, "Graveyard Book" and fell in love with the way he narrates story. When I was searching other books by him, came across with this and thought of getting this to our daughter(9 years old). She loved it, too. Now she is onto Graveyard Book. I think he is one of the best narrator! His voice leads you into the story! Highly recommended.

Great for kids in the car...

...and when the kids come out of the car, it doesn't have to be all over.

I was looking specifically for an audio version of "The Wolves in the Walls" but decided to go with this collection first because it was inexpensive and second because it had so much supplementary material. All of the stories are good and both my son and I love Neil Gaiman's reading voice. The surprise favorite part was the interview between Gaiman and his daughter at the very end.

The only complaint I have is there is no space left between the end of a story and the title of the next, which leads to a very jarring segue from story to story since it sounds like the title is simply a continuation of the last sentence of the previous story. A two-second pause wouldn't have gone amiss here.

fun to have on hand

These short stories are a lot of fun, not too scary, and nice to have on hand if the kids are antsy and you want to play them something that won't take hours to get through.

I love that Neil Gaimen reads this himself!!!

If you could sum up The Neil Gaiman Audio Collection in three words, what would they be?

This is a wonderful collection of children's short stories, read by the author, who has a delightfully entertaining yet soothing voice.

What other book might you compare The Neil Gaiman Audio Collection to and why?

I must admit I find it hard to compare Neil Gaiman's books to anything else; As they seem to have a distinctive style or flavor, if you will.
But, I would say that he hints at lighthearted:

Which scene was your favorite?

The interview @ the end which was done by his daughter.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed out loud at

Any additional comments?

A wonderful bit of Children's Literature!

Great story for anyone who enjoys a great story

Neil Gaiman is a wonderful narrator to his stories. I will forever admire his vivid imagination.

Love it!

My almost five year old requests this on every long drive now. We love it!

These children's books aren't just for kids.

What did you love best about The Neil Gaiman Audio Collection?

So hard to choose, really...
I loved listening to Neil's voice as he read the stories; and I loved the stories themselves. I guess the best I can do here, is to say that Wolves in the Walls was my favorite story in the collection.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Neil Gaiman Audio Collection?

The resolution to Wolves in the Walls. Smart girl, that Lucy.

What about Neil Gaiman’s performance did you like?

Unsurprisingly, he has the perfect storyteller's voice - soothing and engaging. It was very relaxing to listen to, as I lay in a hospital bed, recovering from surgery.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Four wonderful stories to tickle your fancy.

Any additional comments?

I would recommend this to anyone who likes to listen to short, engaging stories, or anyone with children who like stories in general. You won't be disappointed.

Love it

So far every Neil Gaiman book we have listened to has been excellent and this was no exception. I really love that he is also the Narrator. My children and myself are both listeners.

Funny

My son loves these short stories... he laughs and laughs...

Wonderful car listen with my kids

My kids and I enjoyed this collected. We have continuously discussed Wolves in the Walls.. in a which came first type debate.

I especially loved the interview of Neil by Gaiman's daughter at the very end. It was particularly lovely.