A beautiful tale of understanding and tolerance that is simply told and as enjoyable to read today as when first published forty years ago.ġ0/10 A true contemporary fairy tale deserving of its modern classic tag.ġ62 positive reader review(s) for The Iron Man A simple premise once again repeated with the space creature.

Rather than trying to understand this ‘being’ the adults plan is to bury it hide it away and forget about it, but this plan of course ultimately fails so it is left to a child to understand the creature’s motives and create a solution that is beneficial to everyone. The story begins in such a compelling way that you are horrified and thrilled at the same time as Hughes describes this seemingly otherworldly sentient machine that bites tractors in two and has seemingly little regard for anyone or anything other than filling its own belly. How he was made? Nobody knows.”įrom: The Iron Man - Chapter: The Iron Man “The Iron Man came to the top of the cliff. We learn at the end of the story the space creature is actually a star spirit of peace, tempted by the greed it sees when it lands on the planet, but now destined to fly around the earth every night at the behest of the Iron Man and sing to the people of Earth until they too no longer want to war with their neighbour but live in peace. It is Hogarth that helps when the adults wants to trap it and when the Earth is in it’s hour of need prey to an enormous bat-angel creature from space that threatens to devour every living thing on the planet, it is again Hogarth, the child, that sees the only one that can help is the Iron Man. The fact that when he does tell the grown-ups that they believe him and are unsure what to do really makes this story thrilling for children as they realise they are on an even footing with the adults. The Iron Man begins his adventure in this town on the beach where, unwittingly, he steps from the cliff only to fall into several pieces on the rocks and sand below, but if you thought this was the end of the tale you’d be very much mistaken because the Iron Man returns and Hogarth must get to the town to raise the alarm, he must get home where he will be safe. Set in an unnamed rural town, a town where a small boy called Hogarth goes fishing in the local stream only to come across an Iron Man with a head as big as a bedroom and eyes that flash from blue to red.

The Iron Man: A Children’s Story In Five nights by Ted Hughes does indeed consist of five chapters designed to be read a chapter per night, although some children may find it difficult to wait a whole day to hear more of this exciting story.

The iron man ted hughes pictures