The Iron Man: A Children's Story In Five Nights (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
‘The Iron Man’: A Children’s Story in Five Nights is made up of five chapters, the story was designed to be read to children over five nights but unfortunately I was unable to follow this routine and as a result the story was read in less than an hour. Each chapter ended with a climax, ‘how far had he walked? Nobody knows. Where had he come from nobody knows?’ and therefore I was drawn into the exciting and engaging story about the Iron Man. ‘The Iron Man’ is a story about a mysterious ‘metal man’ who suddenly appears out of the sea one night and after managing to fall of the cliff, in a peculiar way he assembles himself. The story is set in a rural town; within the town a small boy named Hogarth goes fishing one day and there he comes across an Iron Man. Hogarth and the Iron man become friends but there is an issue, the Iron Man loves to eat metal and this soon becomes a major problem for the local farmers, so a plan is made with the help of Hogarth.The story can be viewed as a modern fairy tale which embeds a mixture of fantasy and real life adventure. It contains many themes such as friendship, betrayal, loyalty, destruction and many more. In terms of ‘The Iron Man’ and its relevance to the classroom personally I believe that Ted Hughes novel is suitable for KS1 and KS2 children, ages ranging from 5 to 11. Depending on the age group the activities and tasks can be adapted to meet the children’s needs. The story is very imaginative and descriptive and consequently the story can be used to inspire children (KS2) in their creative writing. Hughes, uses many different language techniques within the story: metaphors, similes, onomatopoeia’s and climax. Within lessons students could be asked to identify the different language techniques used within the novel:for example, ‘how many similes/metaphors can you identify?’ and to make the task even more advanced the students could be asked to write their own simile/metaphor describing the Iron Man. Also, there are many other literacy tasks that students can be asked to produce for instance, re writing the first chapter from the Iron man’s point of view, taking into consideration the Iron man’s thoughts and feelings. Besides Literacy, Ted Hughes’ novel is versatile and can be used in many cross curricular activities for example it can be related to science/design and technology. In terms of DT the children could begin by redesigning the Iron man using different materials and then plan an experiment (science) to test the strength/properties of the materials used (wood, paper, plastic. There are many more cross curricular links possible – geography, ICT and PSHE. As an adult I very much enjoyed reading this story as it was very suspenseful and creative, so I can imagine how excited and thrilled children would be whilst reading and interacting with this novel.
Pa: So you finished your first big book. How are you feeling?Miloš: Proud of myself.Pa: You should be. I'm proud of you too.Miloš: Thanks, Pa.Pa: Sure, so did you ... what did you think of it?Miloš: There was a great author.Pa: Who's that?Miloš: Ted Hughes.Pa: Why's he so great?Miloš: Because I liked the space-bat-angel-dragon.Pa: The what?!Miloš: The space-bat-angel-dragon is what I said, Monsieur.Pa: I thought it was the Iron Giant.Miloš: And the Iron Giant.Pa: So what did the space-bat-angel-dragon there for? What did it do?Miloš: It was supposed to be the Iron Giant's challenge.Pa: Like his nemesis?Miloš: Yeah.Pa: So it was kind of King Kong vs. Godzilla, sort of.Miloš: Yeah, sort of. It was more like the Iron Giant was King Kong, but like I said he isn't that big, and the space-bat-angel-dragon is huge compared to the Iron Giant.Pa: Umm, so did the Iron Giant beat the dragon?Miloš: Yeah, only the dragon's job was just to fly around the world all night, every night, singing, cause all it could do up there was fly and sing. Pa: Was the dragon actually the moon?Miloš: No. Pa: No? It was a dragon.Miloš: No. It was a dragon.Pa: That's kooky.Miloš: It was more like a bat an angel and a dragon; that's why it's called the space-bat-angel-dragon. But anyway, I liked it. It was amazing. Yeah.Pa: So what about Hogarth, from the movie, was he different?Miloš: Yeah, a lot different. When we first see him in the movie he's riding his bike to where his mother is working, but in the book he is fishing and he keeps missing the fish in the book, but he hits a rock so he goes home. Pa: And how does he bump into the Iron Giant?Miloš: He sees him on his way home, coming out of the water, then he goes and tells his parents.Pa: So are they friends, like in the movie.Miloš: Yeah, but unlike the movie, everyone loves the Iron Giant ... as soon as the space-bat-angel-dragon falls down. Pa: So the space-bat-angel-dragon is the bad guy rather than the US Army?Miloš: Yeah. There is no US Army. No police. Only farmers. It's really only tyhe space guy. They super changed it in the movie.Pa: So which did you like better? The movie or the book?Miloš: The book.Pa: Very cool. What are you reading next?Miloš: I will read My Dead Girlfriend.Pa: Good choice.Miloš: Then I will win James and the Giant Peach, then I will read the Tiger book (a.k.a. The Essential Calvin and Hobbes).Pa: Well, congratulations on your big finish.Miloš: Thank you.Pa: You are welcome. Miloš: And ... Ted Hughes, this is a great book!Pa: I am sure Sylvia Plath will be glad to hear it?Miloš: Who's that?Pa: Ted's dead girlfriend.Miloš: Oh, I see. Thanks, Pa.Pa: You I love.Miloš: You me too.
What do You think about The Iron Man: A Children's Story In Five Nights (2005)?
A short 5 chapter book which draws in readers through its connective storyline. Due to its nameless rural town it draws its young readers in through placing them within it through its descriptive narrative such as: the description of the bat angel dragon and the Iron Man itself.A bit more of a challenging book within the primary school forum but would recommend it to be read to anyone under 7, but easily accessible for the 8 to 11 year old's. Something that every primary school child should read to stoke the imaginative flame of reading.
—Luke
When you write a review of a kid's book, there really should be a way to give it two different star ratings. One for you, and one for the kids you've read it to. For me, this book might be a three star book. Four if I was feeling generous. I find it wordy and ponderous. Overwrought. The plot is pretty clunky and meh. I don't hate the book or anything, it's just doesn't do much for me. But my boy loves it. He wants me to read it to him over and over again. And again. I think this might be slightly because my boy loves the movie The Iron Giant a lot. But that can't be too much of the reason, as the book has only a glancing similarity to the movie.(The movie is A+ excellent, by the way. One of my favorite movies ever.)
—Patrick
The Iron Man book is one of the most remembered books from my childhood.The adventure starts with an immediate introduction of the Iron Man, giving great detail in his appearance. The suspense quickly builds up as the Iron Man falls down the cliff and in to little pieces. The body parts then start to reassemble, one by one until the Iron Man is complete. A little boy named Hogarth appears on the scene, fishing in a stream before he is startled by the Iron Man. Hogarth runs home to raise the alarm and with the help of the adults, the Iron Man is buried alive. But when danger approaches and the Earth is threatened, it is the Iron Man who comes to the humans aid.The Iron Man, from the beginning, intrigues the imagination of children with statements like "how far had he walked?" and "where did he come from?” It gets them to start thinking before an adult even asks them a question. The vocabulary is simple yet effective with an informative writing style. The book can be read to a class; it can therefore be enjoyed by children of all ages whether they are 5 years old or 9. It is very effective for holding children's attention, even more so if an adult decides to verbally add some special effects along with hand/body gestures in sync with what is happening in the story.The Iron Man can lead on to further related activities depending on the age group of the children, for example: younger children could be asked to draw what they think the Iron Man looks like, others could be asked to construct their very own Iron Man using materials and elder children could use the simple 5 chapter structure of the Iron Man to form their very own adventures.
—Sarfraz
