Echoes of 19th century frights

When Neil Gaiman won the Newbery Award last year for The Graveyard Book, many librarians hailed or deplored it as a new direction in children's literary awards. Even though his earlier book Coraline had been a success with both children and adults. Now a profile in the New Yorker tells the story of how Gaiman developed his style and his following. Beginning with comics he has moved on to use his blogs and his publications to build a huge audience, yet he has not yet been recognized as an important writer. Perhaps this New Yorker piece will do the trick. Rather than bringing children's literature something entirely new, Gaiman has drawn on themes from earlier writers, like the long-forgotten Lucy Clifford mentioned in the article and the more famous Rudyard Kipling, to write intriguing stories that capture modern sensibilities. It's another reminder that literature seldom creates something entirely new but builds on lasting interests and fears that never go out of date. Librarians should recognize that Gaiman is a fresh new voice building a bridge between the past and present for today's children.