The Iron Man by Ted Hughes

I picked up this book to read with my son. He's seen the Iron Giant movie and I guess I thought it was the two stories would be alike. But no, the movie is way off of the book. We both enjoyed the book though. It was a different kind of story.

The first chapter deals with the Iron Giant falling off of a cliff and repairing himself. Then he begins eating all the metal in the countryside including the farmers' equipment. So the farmers hatch a plan to capture him. A young boy named Hogarth finds a way to bring peace between the town and the iron man. So when a giant space creature lands on Australia, it is up to the iron giant to save the world.

I read to my son every night. Either two picture books or at least one chapter in a chapter book. He's 6 and this was about the age that my mom started reading chapter books to me. We've been reading some Magic Treehouse books but I saw this at the library and I knew he would be interested. He was! It was one of the first where he wanted me to go beyond just one chapter. But it is only 4 chapters long so we had to pace ourselves. He liked the ending with space alien and how the Iron Giant outwits it. And he likes the pictures too. I borrowed it from the library but I think I will buy him a copy for his birthday. I can see this as becoming a favorite.