Gonna Roll the Bones

This 2004 picture book adapts Fritz Leiber's Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novelette: Joe Slattermill, a gambling man chafing against his constrained life, enters a mysterious gaming parlor and faces a Death-like figure called the Big Gambler in a high-stakes craps game. Joe loses when Death cheats, and takes 'the long way home — around the world.' David Wiesner's cinematic, somber illustrations are visually sophisticated and genuinely atmospheric. The honest caveat for faith-friendly families is real and significant: gambling with a Death-or-Devil figure, soul loss, and an ambiguous downbeat ending are central to the story, not incidental. Publishers Weekly noted collectors are the likeliest audience — not general child readers. Parents should preview carefully before sharing with younger children. It's a striking art object with a premise that requires deliberate parental discernment.