Fortunately, the Milk

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman with illustrations by Skottie Young is simply delightful. It's hard for me to decide which was more enjoyable: the writing or the drawings. Honestly, I think that the reason I enjoyed this book so much was that the two of them paired so well together. This is exactly the kind of story that an imaginative parent would tell their child and embellish over time. The main character of this book is a father who is left alone to watch the kids and who goes out to get milk for breakfast and takes forever to get back home.When he finally returns he spins an impossible yarn to explain his tardiness to his extremely skeptical children. Anyone who has read Gaiman's writing knows that he's an absolutely wonderful show more fantasy author but it's his sense of humor that makes this book unique. Maybe you've heard of 'dad jokes' before? Well, this is basically one big dad joke accompanied by super cute ink illustrations. 10/10 on all fronts.

I absolutely love the illustrations by Skottie Young. This is another one of those books where you want to hang up the illustrations on the wall of your house...at least I do. show less

Our gang all enjoyed this yarn but feel that Mrs Gaiman on her return should check out how long Neil was chatting to the girl on the checkout when he bought the milk, 'cos we don't believe a word of it.
Further . . . How did Chris Riddell the artist manage to draw all the characters so well if he wasn’t there on the adventure? (Very fishy) Us boys all fell in love with MAD MATILDA the girl buccaneer, even though we only have a glimpse of her in the rigging on the pirate ship in the story. Does she have a fan club? Five stars.

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman is a wonderfully wacky little story about a dad who runs to the corner store to get some milk, and has a few adventures on the way home. Poor old Dad is abducted by aliens, travels through time and space with a stegosaurus, sails with pirates, and faces everything from ponies to piranhas. Fortunately, the milk gets home safely (along with Dad), and it may even have saved the world somewhere along the way!

I really wasn't sure what to expect from this book -- I generally like Gaiman's writing for children, though I am ambivalent about his other works, so I approach anything new with a cautious sort of curiosity. In this case, I got a pleasant surprise. I gulped this brief book down in one sitting, and show more it made me smile and even laugh more than once. Fortunately, the Milk is delightful, and I think it will work particularly well as a read-aloud. show less

For anyone who's enjoyed driving their kids to distraction with increasingly absurd and surreal tales and/or excuses but, like me, sputter out as you lead the charging elephants against the nombies, who eat chocolate biscuits and who may have been responsible for the disappearance of the chocolate biscuits that were in the press just yesterday, this shaggy dinosaur story about a trip to the shop for milk interrupted by aliens and time-travelling dinosaurs and volcano gods and wumpires and so on is just the thing. The children in the story might not be impressed, and your own kids might not be impressed with your efforts, but here's the perfect common ground of mad surreal silliness told with calm aplomb, very funny and very charming and show more definitely one to be read aloud. show less

When their Mum goes off to a conference, a brother and his younger sister are left at home with their absent-minded Dad. When there's no milk for cereal, Dad goes to the corner store to get some and takes absolute ages. When he returns he tells the tale of the epic quest he had bringing the milk back home.

On just the right side of ridiculous, this children's book is a delight for all ages. Gaiman crafts an excellent adventure tale with plenty of humour that feels a bit Douglas Adams-esque and the illustrations by Skottie Young are utterly charming. Whether you're a kid, reading it to a child in your life, or reading it as someone who is no longer a child, there's plenty to enjoy.

What better time of year to read (okay, technically, re-read) this mad-cap romp through time and space than the dizzying days of Mad-Hatter March?! When this book first came out I pre-ordered the American version, illustrated wonderfully by Skottie Young, but I knew that I eventually had to get my hands on Chris Riddell’s illustrated version (published in the UK). Young was fabulous, but Riddell will forever be one of my favourite artists to combine with Neil Gaiman’s mid-grade prose since he perfectly captures the lighthearted strangeness of these weird stories. This particular book covers settings as diverse as spaceships, South American-inspired jungles, European vampire citadels, and the breakfast table where the story begins show more and ends, and Riddell is able to artfully jump between each setting with ease without compromising his unique style of illustration. Relying on an inset page layout we get a real sense of the movement as Gaiman throws his protagonist through time and space (and back again), while Riddell takes illustrations off the page, blacks out entire sections for effect, and repeats imagery without becoming too like a comic book. The final touch that had me laughing my guts out as I closed the book for a second time was Riddell’s tip of the hat to Priscilla, Queen of the Pirates in the character gallery. Whether Gaiman had any say in that, or if it was from Riddell’s own mind, I don’t care, since it was the icing on an already delicious cake! show less

FORTUNATELY, THE MILK by Neil Gaiman is a hilariously ridiculous story about a dad who steps out to buy milk and takes quite a while about it. When he returns and his children ask where he had been (talking to a neighbour, most likely) their father spins an amazing tale of aliens, dinosaur police, a volcano god, pirates, wumpires, ponies, piranhas, and a hot air balloon.

The story of how the father winds up captured by aliens and then time traveling with Professor Steg, a dinosaur of some intelligence, in a hot air balloon all while avoiding nefarious pirates and wumpires and other nasties by aid of the milk (the milk is always there to save the day it seems) is extremely entertaining. Punctuated by remarks from his children that seem to show more both question and help further the story they’re being told, and accompanied by amazing illustrations that help you visualize the father’s journey, FORTUNATELY, THE MILK is very much a tale of “believe it or not.”

At the end, we’re first immediately aware (through the children’s observations) that the story is completely made up. But than the father produces the milk and the last illustration makes you really think twice about whether the father was actually on this amazing journey. FORTUNATELY, THE MILK by Neil Gaiman is a perfect bedtime or classroom story. Even without the aliens and pirates and everything else, the dinosaurs alone would make this story great. Dinosaurs are always a good choice. This is one book that can definitely be enjoyed by anyone and everyone – I loved it! show less