The Night of Wishes

by Michael Ende

Book Overview

The sorcerer Beelzebub Preposteror and his witchy aunt must complete their annual quota of evil deeds before midnight. But a small cat and a raven are waiting to foil their plans and save the world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374455031
• ISBN13: 9780374455033
• Release Date: April 1995
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 8.1"
• Age Range: 10 to 15 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 10

Customer Reviews

Satanarchaeolidealcohellish

A fun, inventive kids books. It pokes fun at the dark side in an absurdist way (which is funny) while highlighting the problems in group think (us against them) and the importance and benefits of friendship.

Fantastically Twisted!

I love this story both for its uniqueness and darkness. Everything about it is infinitely creative and original, from the thumb-striking clock that marks the passage of time with an "ouch" instead of the same old "cuckoo," to the fantastically twisted characters. However, this is not really a book for children. I think it is best read by teens and adults, (or mature younger readers!) The story involves two wicked individuals working for the Devil Himself to destroy the world. There is still hope though, in two raggedy animals who have just one night to foil their masters' plans! For an extra fun experience, I suggest you read this book in real time. It takes place in the course of that single evening, and there is even a clock every few pages to let you know how much time remains! If you crave dark stuff, or just enjoy really original stories, you'll fall in love with THE NIGHT OF WISHES!

Great Book - but read the original!

This is my favorite book since I've read it 5 years ago. The cat (a little dumb) und the always so pessimistic raven are well worked-out caracters and I really love them. Sometimes I wonder how Mr. Ende managed to invent all those words to describe the ingredients of the notion potion. Beeing German I know both versions - the German original and the English translation, which sometimes does not manage to give all the brilliant word-inventions an equal English meaning. So if you understand some German - buy both versions and you'll enjoy Michael Endes magic.

Opens New Demensions in Reading!

This book has many detailed descriptions to the potion ingredient and to the description of the night sky. It opened up many new vocabulary words and gave me a whole new demension of imagination. This book is simply outstanding and a "Must Read" for everyone. Ende has given us great description in this book. This shows his great literature work with this book and The Neverending Story. In conclusion, no one should back off from this book.

Fiction is a mirror into reality. Great Book!!!

The heart knows more than the mind can ever know alone. Michael Ende takes many turns and twists by bringing the wisdom of many animals together to stop the destruction of the nature of evolution. Notice that the animals always meet by the church but never in it. Notice, in the end when the day has been saved, that the animals each go back to their natural world. There are many subtleties in this book about how when evil tries to control nature and the unlikely forces that must take on the messy job of making things right. It is not inside the church where common sense tells you that things are made right, but outside.

A great book, but you can't translate it in all its beauty

A MUST READ for all Michael Ende fans - however it did loose some of its beauty when translated into english - being german there are some things i see in the drawings, others might not catch sitting cought in a jar on a shelf> But nontheless a great book for young and old