Nobody Likes a Goblin

This is a great book. As Dungeons and Dragons parents it's fun to read this to our little ones. Our daughter and son pick it out every night for bedtime reading for 3 months straight and we weren't sick of it yet. The illustrations are fun and kind of tell their own story.

This book is wonder-full! I get where people are coming from with the girl as prisoner thing... but the thing is Skeleton is also their prisoner and is a boy. So it's not a woman thing... it's a comical adventure story with typical themes of going on quests, friendship, battle for things that are important to you etc. But the bottom line is that what is important to the protagonist is saving his friend. Ben Hatke's illustrations are wonderful. He tends to draw female characters with exaggerated feminine attributes, but I don't think that takes away from his lovely stories and illustrations and further, I could also see many women seeing his depictions as flattering to the female shape. To each their own. We love this book and also Julia's house for Lost Creatures. Hatke's books are so rich in picture and word that we never tire of reading them and find new things to look at each time.

My 2.5 yr old loves every Ben Hatke book and this one continues the streak. There is always many parts in his books where we can get excited reading together. For this one, we love to count the shields in the dungeon where the goblin lives, we love to say no no no don't chase the goblin on the many pages where he is being chased, we love to point out the dragons and then ask where they went the next time we see their cliff setting, etc. great adventure book with a happy ending and a message of love.

I don't understand this book. It's clearly a picture book, but it seems more aimed at adults who are into Dungeons and Dragons or related games or video games. I don't think most children would get it.

The main character is a goblin. He wakes up in the morning and goes through his day. He lives in a dungeon and his best friend is a skeleton who lives in the treasure room, and most of the day is just them hanging out together and playing with a crown. Then, adventurers storm the dungeon and the goblin hides. The adventures take everything, including Skeleton. He goes out to look for his friends. A troll warns him that, "Nobody likes a goblin," and he ends up getting chased through town. Eventually as he's being chased, he sees the adventurers with a cartload of spoils, Skeleton on top of the pile. He grabs Skeleton and they run into a cave and hide. The goblin says that the troll was right and nobody likes a goblin.

Skeleton responds, "Well, I like a goblin." And the cave they're hiding in turns out to be filled with goblins who state that they also like goblins. The main goblin still has the crown he was playing with earlier, although now he's wearing it, and the other goblins notice it and ask him if he is the goblin king, to which he says he is. The others defend him from the adventurers, who have caught up with them, and then all the goblins and the skeleton go back to their dungeon and hang out.

One weird thing is that there appears to be a human woman fighting on the side of the goblins and it's kind of unclear where she came from. Rereading the book, she is shown tied up in the cart of loot, and earlier when the goblin and Skeleton are playing in the treasure room, there is a bust that looks just like her. It doesn't mention her in the text at all. Maybe she is an animate form of the bust? It feels like she's part of some weird subplot that was forgotten.

It's pretty. It's fun to look at. It's kind of funny for someone who is into this kind of thing, but it seems like a small niche. It's got a storyline that kids can follow. It's not great, but it's okay. I tend to save high ratings for things that either have a great message to them or are just enjoyable experiences to read, and I didn't get either vibe from this book. It doesn't have much of a message at all. Children would have to be quite nerdy to get the references in this book, and by the time they got the references and got the more nuanced humor, they'd probably be too old for picture books. I think it's a mistargeted book. Also, what's with the weird phrasing of the title? Most English-speakers would say, "Nobody likes goblins."

Message: Everybody deserves friends.

For more children's book reviews, see my website at drttmk dot com.

Cute book, great for dnd parents. It's from a goblins point of view in an adventurers story where his best friend skeleton gets taken.

Something tells me that before Ben Hatke wrote this book he took out his 20-sided die and won his saving throw against writer’s block because NOBODY LIKES A GOBLIN is in the top five best children’s books I have ever enjoyed. If you have ever enjoyed role-playing games, Tolkien novels, or just cheering for the underdog, you have no reason to read further. Just buy the book (or read further if you would like). Hatke’s storytelling can appeal to any child, though.

There I was, a teenager hopped up on Mountain Dew. My level one druid heard a noise in the hallway. The adventuring party was worried because we had already been chased out by a troll that we knew we could not handle. There they were--two goblins walking down the hallway. Without any discussion, we attacked and won. We took what little treasure we found and ran out of there. That’s the life of a goblin in role-playing games, and NOBODY LIKES A GOBLIN starts out in the same manner (but without the killing). One day Goblin is living large. The next day an adventuring party takes his stuff.

Hatke tells this story from the Goblin’s perspective, and he does a masterful job humanizing the lowest humanoid of the fantasy world. You cannot read this book without feeling sympathy for Goblin and cheering for him as he decides to go out into the world even though he gets disrespected by everyone he meets. Trolls. Villagers. Elves. Adventuring parties. Nobody likes a goblin!

The book, though brief, tells such a great story with a great premise, wonderful plot, and even a fun subplot. Some children’s authors seem to write for the adults reading with too many references to things that a kid just won’t get. Most children’s authors write to children with their adult readers as an afterthought. It’s cool, I am reading children’s books for my daughter’s sake. Hatke is one of those rare authors who can write a book that children will understand while keeping adults (who are into fantasy) entertained.

While the jokes might be better appreciated by “fantasy nerds,” that is not a requirement for enjoying the book. My five-year-old daughter never even heard of a goblin, and she loved it. From the perspective of someone who does not get the background context, this is a book about an underdog who overcomes some not-so-nice people (and others).

Like the story itself, the illustrations are not too cartoonish but not serious either. They are not scary, but each of the illustrations is appropriate for the different emotions that Goblin experiences. There is no violence in either the writing or the pictures, and even though nobody in the story likes a goblin, young readers will after they read this book.

This is a very cute book with some great lessons to teach the younger reader.

The pictures are engaging, and the words are easy to read.

The story involves a goblin who has a friend skeleton in a fantasy style dungeon.

One day, while goblin is visiting skeleton, they are having fun by trying on different things from the treasury including a crown. Just as goblin puts it on his head, the adventurers come and take all the treasure from the dungeon. Oh no! Including skeleton!

Goblin goes on a journey to find his friend. Everywhere goblin goes, people attack him on sight!

Finally, he finds his friend skeleton and they flee.

Goblin and skeleton hide in a cave, but oh no! there are already people in the cave.

But, yeah! These are goblins, and goblin is still wearing the crown. He declares himself king, and he organizes the goblins to fight back.

Goblin, skeleton, and his new found friends live happily ever after.

Bought this to read to my daughter since my husband and I are really into dnd (and I'm a educator). It was cute and was nice to see a different humorous perspective of the goblin that was very kid friendly.

I'm trying to indoctrinate my kids so they will like the same geeky things as me. This is an excellent introduction to RPGs. My almost 3 yr old was riveted, and I enjoy reading it more than most preschool level books. After our first night with this in our bedtime lineup, I immediately saved several if the author's other books to my wish list

Picture book or graphic novel, B. Hatke has done wonders with this anti-hero take on the goblin looking to rescue his friend from adventurers. Economical use of words allows the reader to focus on the frames and all the detail contained with them: They propel the narration wonderfully and are nearly seamless from start to finish. It’s a great story!