Ted Hughes Books In Order

The Iron Man

An iron giant saves the world in this contemporary classic. A mysterious creature stalks the land, eating barbed wire and devouring tractors and plows. The farmers are mystified and terrified. And then they glimpse him in the night: the Iron Giant, taller than a house, with glowing headlight eyes and an insatiable taste for metal. The hungry giant must be stopped at any cost. Only a young boy named Hogarth is brave enough to lead the Iron Giant to a safe home. And only Hogarth knows where to turn when a space bat as big as Australia, hungry for every living thing on Earth, darkens the sky. First published in 1968, Ted Hughes’s classic tale is a powerful tribute to peace on earth and in all the universe. Of it Madeleine L’Engle wrote, ‘How grateful we should be for Ted Hughes’s brilliant The Iron Giant. It speaks to all ages, and we need its message even more now.’ Philip Pullman called it ‘so gripping that when you begin to read it aloud, everyone stops to listen, young children and old people alike.’ Whether you think of it as a science fiction fantasy or a modern fairy tale or a tall tale parable for today, you will never forget it.

The Iron Woman

Out of the sludge of a polluted swamp rises a huge, terrifying figure The Iron Woman, about to vent her wrath on those who are destroying the land and sea and all wild creatures. Young Lucy, the first to see the giant, remembers that an Iron Man had appeared once before. Now she and the Iron Man must save the people from The Iron Woman‘s wrath.

How the Whale Became

A collection of creation stories explaining why owls hunt at night, why the dog was chosen to guard farm animals, why polar bears live at the North Pole, and how the elephant came to accept its unique and wonderful qualities.

Moon-Whales

Explores the strange and wonderful ‘moon world’. The terrain is fantastic, its creatures both intriguing and grotesque, but all is touched by the Poet Laureate’s moon magic.

The Dreamfighter

Ted Hughes’s critically acclaimed creation stories for children appear here in one collected volume for the first time. These are mesmerising tales from a master storyteller about the creatures around us – how they came to be the shape that they are, and why they behave as they do. The stories span the age range from 4 to 14 and are ideal for reading out loud and sharing amongst the family.

What is the Truth?

In a combination of prose and poetry, God reveals the meaning of truth to his Son as together they visit a farm on Earth.

Ffangs the Vampire Bat and the Kiss of Truth

Ffangs lived with the other vampires on Vampire Island, but he was different from the rest as he couldn’t stand the sight of blood. When he arrives in London everyone is too frightened to listen while he tries to explain that he only wants to be human and he finds himself facing the vampire hunter.

My Brother Bert

Bert’s little sister knows that he loves to bring home pets and hide them in his room, and her curiosity about what is going on in there has been building and building. Finally she simply cannot wait any longer to check it out for herself. Inside, she discovers a zoo worthy collection of animals tucked into every nook and cranny. But after she gets them out and about, can she undo the chaos and put everyone back in their proper places before Bert comes home?

Playful illustrations by Tracey Campbell Pearson offer a bright and funny new interpretation of Ted Hughes s classic poem.

Timmy the Tug

A literary coup: the publication of a recently discovered and specially illustrated Ted Hughes poem for children, lost for over fifty years. Timmy was a paddle boat, sound as a gong, Not a worm in his timbers, fresh paint all over. He was hale as a whale and twice as strong, And he sailed on the peaceful river. So begins the tale of Timmy the Tug and his subsequent adventures as he escapes his moorings and explores the high seas. Timmy struggles to be helpful but doesn t always succeed despite his best efforts. However, by trying and trying and trying again, he at last saves a beautiful ship in distress and so rediscovers his sense of pride. Originally written in the mid 1950s and only recently rediscovered, this lyrical poem by Ted Hughes, created to accompany a story that was conceived and delightfully illustrated in watercolor by his friend Jim Downer, is presented here as a facsimile of the original manuscript. Illustrated in color throughout

Letters of Ted Hughes

Ted Hughes described letter writing as excellent training for conversation with the world. These nearly 300 letters selected from several thousand show him in all his aspects: poet, husband and father, lover of the natural world, proud Englishman, and a man for whom literature was a way of being fully alive to experience.
There are letters dealing with Hughes’s work on classic books, from the early breakthrough Lupercal to the late, revelatory Birthday Letters. There are letters discussing, with notable frankness, his marriages to Sylvia Plath and then to Assia Wevill. After marrying Carol Orchard, in 1970, Hughes ran a farm in Dorset for several years, and there are letters touching on his interest in
astrology, his strong and original views of Shakespeare, and his passion for farming, fishing, and the environment in general. Letters to Seamus Heaney and Philip Larkin situate Hughes among his peers as never before.
Letters of Ted Hughes reveals the author as a prose writer of great vigor and subtlety. It deepens our understanding of and our admiration for this great twentieth century poet.