Fortunately, the Milk

Fortunately the Milk by Neil Gaiman is a children's illustrated book (more text than a picture book) that I read in audiobook form. That may seem like a strange choice, but I saw it was added to the library lending system and it was too tempting not to reserve it. The chances of me stumbling across the paper version in a convenient location seem pretty low anyway.

While picking up milk for his children's cereal, a father is abducted by aliens and finds himself on a wild adventure through time and space.

Since I didn't experience this book with any pictures, it felt more like a short story than anything else. Although it may have been written for children, the story is designed to be enjoyed by people of all ages. I certainly didn't feel show more like it was talking down to the reader.

The premise is simple: the children's mother goes away, leaving them with a lot of frozen food and detailed instructions for the father. Despite aforementioned instructions, the father forgets to buy milk until it's breakfast time and there's nothing for the children to pour on their cereal. Realising this also means there's no milk for his tea, the father sets out for the corner store.

Some extended period of time later, he returns and, when the children demand to know what took him so long, he regales them with tales of aliens and time travel with a dinosaur. That account forms the bulk of the story, with a few interjections from the children.

It was funny and a quick listen, clocking in at about an hour. I would be interested in seeing the illustrated version, but I didn't feel the story was at all diminished by the lack of pictures. So if you're interested in a fun and light-hearted yarn — especially if you're also trying to keep some kids amused — this is a good choice. And it should go without saying that I'd recommend it to all fans of Neil Gaiman's books, especially his works for younger readers.

4.5 / 5 stars 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.

This is an unusually lighthearted book for Neil Gaiman, an author whose work usually verges on horror. There are vampires and aliens who threaten to take over the world but the tone is always whimsical. The book takes its structure from the rambling tall tales told by parents as well as perhaps nonsense poetry; I definitely sensed the influence of Edward Lear in parts. This makes it a refreshing and fun read, although it might seem a bit lightweight in comparison to Neil Gaiman's other works.

Chris Riddell's illustrations in the UK edition are marvelous, contain the funniest parts of the book,and add a great deal to the read. Anyone who enjoys well-written silliness will no doubt get a kick out of this little book.

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

If there is a more ridiculous (but entertainingly logical) story that a father tells his children, then I don't know it. In a way, this book gives a glimpse into the lives of Gaiman's own chilren, who, I am sure, were regaled with similarly ridiculous tales to explain the behavior of their father. Clearly children who grow up in this type of household would react in the same way as the children in the book (with jaded incredulity), and Gaiman wittily 'fesses up to this in his dedication of the book to his son Michael "who would never have believed a word of it."

Illustrated by Chris Riddell

Well, as excuses for taking too long over the groceries, this is up there :0)

When a mother has to go off for a conference to present a paper on lizards, two children are left without milk for their cereal even though she reminded their dad that it was running out. This is the story, from the boy's point of view, of the tale that their dad told of why it took him so long to get milk from the corner shop. Delightfully silly, it involves snotty aliens, time travelling dinosaurs, an ancient volcano god, purple dwarves and the end of the universe (amongst other things). Oh, and wumpires. (I love the wumpires. So to speak.) Fortunately, the milk survives all these adventures (and that's not a spoiler, because the show more milk makes its entrance at the beginning of the story).

This is a short, snappy book which I inadvertantly read in one go. Admittedly, it is aimed at children, with a lot of atmospheric illustrations by Chris Riddell (whose style I recognise from Beyond the Deepwoods, which I read earlier this year) including some wonderful quite gross aliens and a father who looks suspiciously like Neil Gaiman.

It does start off with very short, choppy sentences, which is a style I associate with readers for young children and it makes it a bit hard to get into, to start with, but it gets going when Gaiman hits his stride, around the time that Dad is teaching pirates how to make him walk the plank.

It's all very light (but certainly not fluffy), and keeps you smiling all the way through, even when the kids poke holes in Dad's story.

'Hang on. He was a Stegosaurus?'
'Yes.'
'Then how could he just nip up a rope ladder?'
'He was,' said my father, 'a large Stegosaurus, but very light on his feet.'

I love Riddell's illustration of Splod, which perfectly expresses:

"If two things that are the same thing touch," proclaimed the volcano god, "then the whole Universe shall end. Thus sayeth the great and unutterable Splod."
"How does a volcano know so much about trans-temporal meta-science?" asked one of the pale green aliens.
"Being a geological formation gives you a lot of time to think," said Splod. "Also, I subscribe to a lot of learned journals."

And I want to point out, in case you missed it,

(Madam? I thought, embarassed.)

Fun. Worth a read.

4****

... I wonder how fresh time-travelled milk is?... show less