The Iron Giant: A Story in Five Nights
Ted Hughes
Library Binding
(Knopf Books for Young Readers, May 18, 1999)
From Ted Hughes, England's Poet Laureate, Knopf is proud to present a children's classic which has been unavailable in the U.S. for many years. First published in 1968, The Iron Giant is a modern fantasy about a massive giant who stalks the earth devouring metal, terrifying farmers and townspeople everywhere. Despite his insatiable hunger, the Iron Giant is quite gentle and good-natured, though the townspeople are too frightened of him to realize it. So they capture him and put him in a scrapyard, where he happily stuffs himself with stoves and bicycles. The people forget about the Iron Giant until a space-bat the size of Australia hovers over the earth, poised to destroy it. Earth needs a hero and only the Iron Giant is big enough and brave enough to do battle with the hideous creature from outer space. With a tractor-eating giant, a menacing space-bat, and a young boy-hero, The Iron Giant is an accessible, early chapter book with plenty of appeal for reluctant readers and budding science fiction and fantasy fans.
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