Title: Nobody Likes a Goblin
Author/Illustrator: Ben Hatke
Age Group: 2-6
Synopsis: Goblin enjoys his simple sort of life but all of that is thrown into the wind when his best friend, Skeleton, is kidnapped.
The Lowdown:
I have admitted this before. I’m a geek. My husband and I spent a good portion of our first date playing Halo. I’m not especially good at video games but I love the adventurous video games like Dragon Age or Skyrim that are so similar to this story. And any sort of fantasy, adventure is something that I truly enjoy. Bug seems to be taking after me, maybe it’s the dragons that have hung above his bed since he was born. Either way, Nobody Likes a Goblin has become an all time favorite, sent by my equally geeky youngest sister.
Goblins normally are not the protagonists of any story, in fact they normally lurk about and are quite villainous. But the book flips that all on its head. Goblin spends his days humbly: lighting torches, feeding rats, gnawing on old boots, and playing with his best friend, Skeleton. But a chaotic element is thrown into it when adventurers storm and raid the dungeon taking everything, including Skeleton. Goblin puts on Skeleton’s forgotten crown and sets off to find his friend. But he soon finds out that goblins are not universally beloved. In fact, by the time he finds Skeleton he has quite an entourage chasing him, thirsty for his blood. While hiding with Skeleton, waiting to be found, and therefore their doom, they find a whole brood of other goblins. And they don’t mind goblins at all! In fact, they offer to defend the two friends. After driving off their adversaries, the “heroes” all head back to Goblin’s dungeon.
Hatke delivers this twist on a traditional adventure tale through a very unique style that reminds me of a graphic novel or a video game concept art. It’s got a quirky sort of cuteness to it that makes me not ohh and ahh over Goblin but not draw back in horror either. It’s a perfect technique for introducing emerging geeks to creatures like goblins, skeletons, and trolls without making them terrifying. It all seems to be colored with a absolutely stunning watercolor technique that can take your breath away on certain pages. I also love that Hatke has included females within the adventurer troop and as a heavy warrior class on top of that (it means she wears heavy armor and wields a sword instead of daggers or something smaller). The whole effect finds a great balance of fantasy, cartoon, and cute without even coming close to dipping into My Little Pony territory. Perfect.
I love that I can share this book with Bug and provide an introduction into a realm of creatures and characters that I enjoy so much. And I love that he loves it so. Once it’s reshelved it is always the first to be chosen. He enjoys the topsy turviness of the plot and giggles as Goblin gnaws on old boots. This book recently also prevented a melt down as we waited in an atrociously long line. I was able to recite it from memory with Bug interjecting where I had mussed up the words a bit. It’s a great and fun read for potential geeks and a fun twist for those of us who’ve raided quite a few dungeons in our day.
Story Tips:
- Keep an eye out for fun details that Hatke likes to play with. Like the bust of a woman in the treasure room that turns into a real person later on.
I need more!
Ben Hatke does a graphic novel series called about a girl called Zita. Also keep an eye out for a review on his other picture book Julia’s House for Lost Creatures on Homegrown Reader later this week. For more info check out Google or Amazon as his website doesn’t get updated often and is a bit tricky to navigate.
