The Iron Giant

I bought this book because my son LOVES the animated movie. However, this is WILDLY different from the film. It is still a great book and a wonderful story but if you're hoping to get something similar to the animated movie you'll be disappointed. The only similarities are: there's a big robot, a boy named Hogarth, and the robot lives in the junkyard.

Wonderful book, wonderful story for my grandkids.

My daughter loved watching this movie as a child. It was one of her favorites to watch with her dad. He has passed on now. She even got a memorial tattoo of the Iron Giant for her dad. I got this book for her 30th birthday.

my dad loved the surprise

A mysterious, fearsome giant, made of iron, walks out of nowhere to the top of a cliff. No one knows where he had come from or how he was made. When he steps off the cliff, he crashes and breaks into a hundred pieces, but over time all the pieces fit themselves back together again. Soon afterwards a farmer's son named Hogarth is fishing in a stream and at evening sees a giant black figure, bigger than a house. No one, except his own father, believes Hogarth at first, but when reports begin to come in about missing tractors, plows, and other farm machinery made of steel and iron, everyone decides that something needs to be done. A big hole is dug near where the Iron Giant had gone back into the sea and is covered with branches, straw, and soil, with an old truck on the nearby hill as bait to trap the monster. At first, he does not come, but eventually he does fall in and is covered with a mound of dirt. However, the following spring, he digs out of the trap and starts eating all the barbed wire for miles around, as well as hinges which he tears off gates, tin cans which he finds in ditches, tractors, cars, and trucks. The farmers talk about calling in the army. But Hogarth has a plan. What is it? And when a giant space lizard the size of Australia comes to Earth from Orion and threatens to destroy the planet by eating all living things, is there anything that Hogarth and the Iron Giant can do to save mankind? We saw the 1999 Warner Brothers animated feature film The Iron Giant, and our boys really liked it, but I didn't know until a few years ago that the movie was based on a book, originally published in England as The Iron Man, although the two are very different in many respects. The book is quite spare, consisting of only five chapters, so it is an easy read for middle grade students. There is one mention of the stars being billions and trillions and zillions of years old, but it is also said that the people wept and prayed to God to save them from the space lizard. No bad language occurs. Author Ted Hughes was poet laureate of England from 1984 until his death in 1998. The book is said to be "a powerful tribute to peace on earth--and in all the universe," so some might see in it a little anti-war propaganda, but the fact is that no reasonable person really wants war and that everyone hopes and strives for peace. There is a sequel, The Iron Woman, describing retribution based on environmental themes related to pollution.

Excellent animated film version of the book, but adapted to a more satisfying conclusion.

As a fan of the animated film, I had been waiting to read this. I’ll admit first that I’m a grown man with no kids. I enjoyed the book without the additional intent of sharing it with a young one in my life. The story is a delightful little adventure about the titular iron giant who is initially misunderstood and was victimized. However, once his purpose was found, he was roundly accepted. He then proved his worth even further by saving the planet by taking on some serious risks. There’s a whole pile of messages built into the parable and you can truly assign your own meaning. It’s a short read and yet packed a punch. And here’s the kicker. If I had a kid, I’d want to read this book for them!!

I bought this book for my 9 year old grandson's birthday because I made him a robot and the iron giant looked just like the robot. What I wasn't expecting was what a fun book this was for him to read! It was an easy read for him and he thoroughly enjoyed it!

poco da dire su questo libro per ragazzi di Ted Hughes, dal quale è stato tratto il magnifico film d'animazione di Brad Bird. la versione qui recensita in lingua originale è molto bella, piccola e con una bellissima copertina. il racconto è un classico ed è consigliato sia a chi vuole imparare l'inglese, dato la semplicità di scrittura e la brevità del racconto, sia a chi è appassionato del genere.

Great story

My son (not one for books so we have been trying lots of different approaches) enjoyed this book so much, he brought it down the next morning, after reading the first chapter at bedtime, and wanted me to read the whole thing. Sat quietly the whole time and took it all in, brilliant.

Formo parte del regalo del día del Niño de mi Hijo de 27 años, jamás creo poder regalarle su Gigante de Acero a escala y su película, woooooow, fue maravilloso fue como volver a verlo siendo un Niño y pudiendo hacerlo feliz porque realmente se sorprendió. Mil Gracias, recordar es volver a vivir y su infancia estuvo llena de aprendizajes y moralejas de amor de sus películas y está es una de la más bellas y llenas de Luminosas enseñanzas de Amor fraternal. Gracias de Corazón ❤️.

Nice book to read it was average for me