Nobody Likes a Goblin: A Picture Book of Fantasy and Friendship
I absolutely love the genre of fantasy and I love sharing fantasy stories with my kids. Everything about the genre makes sharing the experiences with my kids all the more special. Whether we’re talking about board games, books, movies, or video games - fantasy captures my attention and all of our collective imaginations more than anything else.
There are many things that might cause us to fall in love with a picture book. Fitting into the fantasy genre and doing it well certainly doesn’t hurt, but there’s more to it than that. The illustrations are definitely a big part of it, and so are the characters, as well as the themes being explored. And, every once in a while, it truly all comes together and we find a book that feels like it was made just for us - and that’s how it is with Nobody Likes a Goblin by Ben Hatke.
You might already know the name Ben Hatke for his very popular graphic novels - Little Robot, Mighty Jack, and Zita the Spacegirl - but we know him better in our house for his work on two beloved picture books: Julia’s House for Lost Creatures and Nobody Likes a Goblin. Both picture books are set in their own fantasy worlds that kickstart our imaginations, and they both happen to feature friendship and belonging as strong central themes.
We’ve written before about how special a book Julia’s House for Lost Creatures is (and I’m happy to say that a sequel is due out this year!) and now I think it’s high time that Nobody Likes a Goblin is given the same treatment. After all, both books sit very comfortably in our family’s honorary hall of fame for most beloved picture books of all time.
Nobody Likes a Goblin instantly appeals and speaks to the high fantasy fan inside me - the little kid who fell in love with Lord of the Rings, who played Hero Quest with his father and brother, and crawled the dungeons of Diablo on PC. Frankly, I can’t think of a single picture book that appeals to that side of me any better, and that’s why it’s so much pure fun to share with the kids.
Hatke most certainly has a love for fantasy as well, and it shines through very clearly in the details of his illustrations. I love everything about the beautiful world he has made - not just the characters, but the mountain paths, the taverns, and the descent into the dark dungeon lit by torchlight. His work is always full of illustrations that I’d love to hang on my wall.
And, just like you see in Julia’s House of Lost Creatures, Hatke’s imagination is just perfect for this kind of work, because the creatures that he comes up with are fantastic and imaginative and endearing. The troll, the skeleton, the little ghost, the gang of goblins - truly it’s exactly the kind of art that I’m just grateful to have the opportunity to share with my kids.
But, like I mentioned before, there are many factors that make us fall deeply in love with a picture book, and it’s about more than just fitting into the right genre and featuring beautiful illustrations. Nobody Likes a Goblin actually explores some of our very favorite themes as well - kindness, friendship, belonging, and, maybe our favorite of all, empathy. In fact, it also made our list of favorite picture books that teach empathy to kids.
Hatke named his book Nobody Likes a Goblin, and seasoned adventurers can certainly relate to that concept. It’s hard to argue that fact after years and years of being bombarded with stories about brave heroes fighting evil goblins. But Hatke’s Goblin is actually incredibly likeable. In fact, he’s the hero of the story. And that traditional band of dungeon explorers featuring a knight and a wizard and a dwarf and a thief - like they jumped right out of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign - are actually the bad guys.
The way that Hatke flips the script in this way provides a very valuable and classic lesson in empathy for kids. It’s an effective exercise in looking at situations from other people’s point of view, as well as not judging a book by its cover. It’s impossible not to empathize with the kind Goblin when the band of adventurers rushes in and steals everything from his dungeon, completely unprovoked, including his only friend in the world - Skeleton.
On top of all that, Goblin is treated with absolute revulsion by almost everyone he runs into after he bravely ventures above ground on a quest to rescue his friend Skeleton. His loneliness, his kindness, his bravery, the treatment he receives from others - it all weaves together to make Goblin one of the most endearing characters we know. It’s a spectacular concept for a story and it’s wonderfully executed.
And there’s something very special about exploring that chase for a sense of belonging. It’s a powerful and mysterious emotion, and everybody deserves to feel like they belong. It brightens my heart to see my son and daughter go through the roller coaster of emotions that Goblin goes through, to see them rooting for him to find his friend Skeleton, and to see them smile when the kind little guy finds his place in the world.
I truly believe that books like this one are much more than great entertainment. There’s not a doubt in my mind that our kids are also learning about the importance of treating others with kindness while they’re exploring this great fantasy world. It will go down as one of our all time favorites and I sincerely hope we’re all lucky enough to be allowed many more glimpses into Hatke’s imagination with many more children’s stories.
Have you read any of Ben Hatke’s wonderful books? What does your family think about Nobody Likes a Goblin? Let us know in the comments!
