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Howl’s Moving Castle

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Howl’s Moving Castle

By: Diana Wynne Jones
Narrated by: John Sessions
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About this listen

‘One of the greatest ever writers for children’ – Garth Nix

‘A true original’ – Katherine Rundell

‘Truly magical … Guaranteed to leave you gasping’ The Bookseller

‘She is the best writer of magical fantasy for children’ Evening Standard

Deciding she has nothing more to lose, Sophie makes her way to the moving castle that hovers on the hills above her town, Market Chipping. But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl, whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the souls of young girls…

There Sophie meets Michael, Howl’s apprentice, and Calcifer the fire demon, with whom she agrees a pact. Her entanglements with Calcifer, Howl and Michael and her quest to break her curse come alive with Diana Wynne Jones’s unique combination of magic, humour and imagination.

©1986 Diana Wynne Jones Classics Fantasy Fiction Growing Up Growing Up & Facts of Life Humourous Fiction Literature & Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Magic Users Magic Funny Wizardry

Critic Reviews

"One of the greatest ever writers for children" – Garth Nix

"A true original" – Katherine Rundell

“Imaginative and terribly funny” – Michael Morpurgo

THE TELEGRAPH – 100 Best Books a Child Should Read

“Wit and humor glint from the pages" – THE HORN BOOK

Praise for Diana Wynne Jones

“…Her hallmarks include laugh-aloud humour, plenty of magic and imaginative array of alternate worlds. Yet, at the same time, a great seriousness is present in all of her novels, a sense of urgency that links Jones’s most outrageous plots to her readers’ hopes and fears…” – Publishers Weekly

“Diana Wynne Jones ought to be crowned with coloured garlands because she is the best writer of magical fantasy for children in this country ” – Evening Standard

“Diana Wynne Jones could teach Stephen King and JK Rowling a thing or two … [she] has a skill for inserting just the right amount of detail in her written words, leaving you satiated but not stuffed.” – SFX
All stars
Most relevant
Howls accent is a touch off putting at times but otherwise fantastic in all ways

great book

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Who was your favorite character and why?

Who doesn't love Howl, he's so vain and selfish, but there's much more to him than he lets show.

Have you listened to any of John Sessions’s other performances? How does this one compare?

John Sessions did a great job with this book, he was enjoyable to listen too and did some great voices and accents for each character.

Any additional comments?

I love this book, I've listened to the audio book several times, read the printed book and watched Hayao Miyazaki's movie. I love the book the best, and while this audio book was enjoyable, I really really wish there was an unabridged version available.

Ahh so enjoyable!

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The reader is committed to giving a great and varied performance. A great little story that's different yet related to the movie.

Familiar yet new

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Great story, great narration. absolutely recommend for children and as an adult enjoy listening along as well.

one of my favourite audio books

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Only thing that I did not love about this audiobook is how it was an abridged recording.

Have always loved the film now the book too

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I loved it but wish it was unabridged! It was still plenty of fun though!

Witty and fun!

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When I saw this was an abridged version I was hesitant to try it.... there was a few moments at the beginning that I felt could have been explained more; but overall I found the story to be gorgeous. I'm looking forward to reading the others in the series : )

Abridged but still brilliant...

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Absolutely love the story, the narration for howl is perfect. Wish it was the unabridged version.

Majestic and Magic

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If you’re reading it along with the book, it cuts out paragraphs and chunks of sentences so you don’t get the full story. It’s a shame because I enjoy reading along whilst listening to the audio so it’s a bit jarring.

Audio doesn’t match book

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A fun kids book that should be bought on sale. Mostly because of its length, but also because of the overuse of repetitive, out of place, painful music. I would not have finished this read if it wasn't so short. Maybe if you don't use earphones like me it wouldn't be so grating.

4/5 for everything, but brought down to a three for the music.

Fun Read, Annoying Musuc

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