Neil Gaiman writes about the space-time continuum, a time-traveling dinosaur, pirates and piranhas, globby green aliens, a volcano god, and a Dad who went out to buy a carton of milk for breakfast in this 2013 illustrated book, Fortunately, the Milk. He is joined by Chris Riddell, who is largely responsible for this masterpiece as his illustrations brought out the fun and magic of Gaiman’s scribbles. While Dad’s adventure is clearly out of this world, the reading experience won’t be a blast without Riddel’s artistic hands.
The story is about Mum being away at a conference to present a paper on lizards and Dad is left home to take care of the two kids. But that morning, kids discovered there’s no milk for breakfast so Dad went out to get some. But he didn’t return immediately. The boy narrator said it took ages and ages for Dad to come home armed with a ridiculous story and explanation of why it took him so long to get that carton of milk home.
And here’s where the craziness began – or at least in the story that Dad told. He was on his way home with the carton of milk when he was sucked in a huge silver disc bearing the green aliens with plans of dominating dear old Earth. Dad escaped by opening a door that led him to a pirate ship in the 18th century. Yes, it’s a space-time continuum-kind-of stuff and Dad’s tale is interrupted by the children’s questions, doubtful that his story is even true.
In this book, you’ll meet Professor Steg, a time-travelling Stegosaurus who sails the world in a hot air balloon. Dad’s accidental friendship with the dinosaur resulted to another set of crazy adventures including being thrust to a jungle where volcano -worshipping people thrived from thousands of years.
How Dad got home with the carton of milk is subject to your reading of this book.
The story is perfect for fourth-grade book talk and literary discussion as it presents subjects that are interesting and engaging. I can totallly picture myself making a literature-based lesson plan using this book.
Several questions can be asked from this book.
Was Dad telling the truth about his adventures? If yes why? If no, well, what do you think really happened to him?
What do you think of Professor Steg? The aliens? The volcano worshippers? Of Mum who was out to present a paper on lizards?
I got this book after an impulsive buying episode of an exclusive box set of paperback editions which include Coraline and The Graveyard Book. The box set contains illustrations from the British editions by Riddell.
In Fortunately, the Milk, Gaiman let loose a kind of storytelling that is uncomplicated and utilized onomatopeia to connect fantasy with reality. As a whole, Riddell’s illustrations is guilty of bringing out the best of Neil Gaiman – and I bet Gaiman was pleased.
News reports say Johnny Depp and director Edgar Wright have both signed for a movie adaptation of this Gaiman book. I’m excited but I wish someone will do The Graveyard Book first.
***
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
