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A review by crazygoangirl
The Iron Man: 50th Anniversary Edition by Andrew Davidson, Ted Hughes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Read this for a book published in my Birth Year, for the ‘My Novel Life’ challenge that I found on YouTube.
I don’t know much about Ted Hughes except that he was Sylvia Plath’s husband and a renowned poet and author in his own right, but I’d never read anything by him. I thought him primarily a poet and was completely unaware that he’d written children’s books! It was a joy to find this little gem of a book, based on a story he invented for his own children, according to the foreword by Michael Morpurgo.
In the story, we follow the Iron Man, who comes from nowhere, eats iron and all metals, disappears into the sea, rises again, is buried and then rises again to battle a space-bat-angel-dragon, in an extraordinary display of intelligence and courage, for the people of Earth who haven’t treated him particularly well, except the young boy, Hogarth, who has shown him compassion on occasion though not always.
Wonderfully imagined, beautifully written and exquisitely illustrated by Andrew Davidson with his woodcuts - this was a delightful and meaningful read that might have been written for children, but shares an important message of compassion, friendship and courage for adults as well. Highly recommended and do follow Morpurgo’s instructions to read it out loud to experience the particular rhythm and music of Hughes’ words, for an extra special reading experience! I did and enjoyed it to the fullest! I want to read more of Hughes’ children’s books- particularly The Iron Woman and The Tiger Boy.
I don’t know much about Ted Hughes except that he was Sylvia Plath’s husband and a renowned poet and author in his own right, but I’d never read anything by him. I thought him primarily a poet and was completely unaware that he’d written children’s books! It was a joy to find this little gem of a book, based on a story he invented for his own children, according to the foreword by Michael Morpurgo.
In the story, we follow the Iron Man, who comes from nowhere, eats iron and all metals, disappears into the sea, rises again, is buried and then rises again to battle a space-bat-angel-dragon, in an extraordinary display of intelligence and courage, for the people of Earth who haven’t treated him particularly well, except the young boy, Hogarth, who has shown him compassion on occasion though not always.
Wonderfully imagined, beautifully written and exquisitely illustrated by Andrew Davidson with his woodcuts - this was a delightful and meaningful read that might have been written for children, but shares an important message of compassion, friendship and courage for adults as well. Highly recommended and do follow Morpurgo’s instructions to read it out loud to experience the particular rhythm and music of Hughes’ words, for an extra special reading experience! I did and enjoyed it to the fullest! I want to read more of Hughes’ children’s books- particularly The Iron Woman and The Tiger Boy.