Bit of Goth fun

I’ll skip the introductions, you know I’m a huge fantasy fan, a voracious reader, blah blah blah. And I’ll just go ahead and tell you about this great book series I’ve found recently.
I’ve been a Neil Gaiman fan for years (one of my favorite authors, in fact) and something I’ve always enjoyed are his collaborations with the amazingly talented Chris Riddell. Seriously, if you haven’t seen anything drawn by this guy, you need to go check him out ASAP (which is kinda what the post is about).

Last Halloween, I went to a children’s event with my kid brother and it involved the launching (in RO) of one of Riddell’s books and also a quick Skype chat with him. To be honest, I kinda dragged him there and I was super excited to listen to him talk to the kids and draw some things for them. It was fun. And I decided I’d have to get my hands on his Goth Girl series, which he writes and of course, illustrates. Luckily, my brother got the first Goth Girl book for Xmas and we read through it like that. It was great. Beside the amazing illustrations, there are tons o witty remarks, likable (although very strange – my favorite type) characters and quite interesting plot.
Something I particularly enjoy are the references. He makes allusions or plays on words to everything from Leonardo Da Vinci to William Wordsworth, to discreetly quoting Samuel Coleridge. There is art, history, literature, anything you might want your kids to learn. And it’s easy and fun, because the story is easy and fun. What’s there not to like?
I don’t know how much of it sticks, but some has to, right? At least the kid hears the name Henry VIII or Mary Shelley, and it’s a lot more interesting than what they teach you at school. There’s no ghostly mice at schools or vampire bakers.

The books follow the adventures of a young girl, Ada, who lives in the strange Ghastly Gorm Hall in 19th century England, with her distant poet father, Lord Goth. And then, she meets a mouse. No, scratch that, she meets the ghost of a mouse and discovers all sorts of interesting things and goes on adventures.

I’ve read my fair share of children literature and I can honestly say this is one of the better ones. it’s filled with educative bits, and yet it’s not boring. It’s easy, but not in the way other modern kids’ books are (rather silly and simplistic). Personally, I’m enjoying it tremendously. I just came back with the last two books in the series and I can’t wait to start reading.

Just a suggestion, for those of you with kids, or those older kids out there who still enjoy a bit of good fantasy now and then.