"I bought the milk," said my father. "I walked out of the corner shop, and heard a noise like this: t h u m m t h u m m. I looked up and saw a huge silver disc hovering in the air above Marshall Road."
"Hullo," I said to myself. "That's not something you see every day. And then something odd happened."
Find out just how odd things get in this hilarious New York Times bestselling story of time travel and breakfast cereal, expertly told by Newbery Medalist and bestselling author Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Skottie Young.
- Used Book in Good Condition
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85 of 90 people found the following review helpful.
"where there is milk, there is hope."
By Alpha Reader
Only Neil Gaiman could delight two polar-opposite readerships by releasing one of the most buzzed-about adult books of the year (`The Ocean at the End of the Lane' - so good I still can't bring myself to write a review because THERE ARE NO WORDS!) and then a few months later a lavishly wonderful children's book. It's not surprising, really, because Neil Gaiman wrote both `American Gods' and `Coraline' - cementing himself as a fine storyteller for all ages.`Fortunately, the Milk. . . ' being Gaiman's children's foray, his Bloomsbury publishers know they can be a bit more blunt and honest with their younger readers. Hence this very apt author billing of 'Ridiculously Bestselling Author'The book is about a father left in charge of his two children when their mum goes off to a conference. But the first disaster strikes at breakfast-time, when they run out of milk. So it's up to dad to trot down to the corner store for a refill . . . but he takes ages and ages, and it's only upon his return that the children discover what took him so long.The whole book is a bit tongue-in-cheek, and there's something here for the intended 8-12 readership, as well as the parents for whom this will be bedtime reading. For the kids there are; Dwarves, wumpires, a stegosaurus, aliens, pirates, ponies, a volcano god . . . then for the adult readers there are some references to The Usual Suspects, a little Doctor Who-esque time travel conundrum and some making fun of Twilight. It's all a bit brilliant really. Even more so because Chris Riddell's illustrations have made the dad look like Neil Gaiman himself - which makes me think back on an old blog post Gaiman once posted about where he gets his ideas from.Interestingly, there are two versions of Gaiman's latest children's book. There's the US and Canada book illustrated by Skottie Young - this version does not include a Neil-Father lookalike, and is perhaps the slightly more conventional children's book. Chris Riddell's illustrated book for Australia and UK includes the ellipsis in the title `. . . ' and the shiniest cover you ever did see. There's also some symmetry in Riddell lending his drawings to `Fortunately', because Riddell also illustrated the anniversary edition of `Coraline'.Either way, Gaiman's extravagant story is a lot of fun with moments of quiet brilliance. I don't know about anyone else, but when I read the blurb for `Fortunately, the Milk. . . ' about a father who takes a jolly good time to get home to his children with their promised milk, I instantly thought of the old cliché prevalent in many stories; that a father went to buy a packet of cigarettes one morning and never came home. The basis being that father's don't really hold up so well in many stories; so I love that Gaiman took that old cliché and made a minor hero of this father and detailed his grand adventures to get home to his kids.Oh! And never forget, "where there is milk, there is hope."
362 of 430 people found the following review helpful.This is not a book about little girls in Nazi Germany
By Jenny Lawson
I finished The Book Thief and couldn't stop doing the ugly cry so my husband made me promise to stop reading books about small children in Nazi Germany for at least a day. I read this book instead and it didn't make me ugly cry at all. In fact, it was deliciously wonderful and I reveled in the lack of swastikas.
45 of 50 people found the following review helpful."Fortunately, the Milk" is for all dairy and non-dairy consumers!
By Jamie Steidle
Neil Gaiman’s “Fortunately, the Milk” is as charming as it sounds. A story to delight even the most lactose intolerant. Read it with your morning breakfast, your coffee or tea; this book will surely please. A wonderful romp full of whimsy, time-travel, dairy and numerous globulous aliens. If you haven’t read any of Neil Gaiman’s works here is a great place to start. It’s good for all ages. Read it with a glass of milk! A book fortified to get you through your day!If you like Doctor Who, Back to the Future, Monty Python, Neil Gaiman, laughing, reading good books, or dairy, than I suggest reading “Fortunately the milk”. If you don’t like at least one of these things, well, then I suggest consulting a physician immediately.
