The Neverending Story - by Michael Ende

About the Book

Small and insignificant Bastian Balthazar Bux is nobody's idea of a hero, least of all his own. Then, through the pages of an ancient, mysterious book, he discovers the enchanted world of Fantastica, and only Bastian himself can save the fairy people who live there.

Book Synopsis

From award-winning author Michael Ende, The Neverending Story is a classic tale of one boy and the book that magically comes to life

Unicorns, dragons, sprites, will-o'-the-wisps: the inhabitants of an enchanted world. And into this world - through the pages of an old book - ventures Bastian, a lonely boy of ten or twelve. But Fantastica is slowly decaying, its Childlike Empress dying. Only a real human being can set things right by giving the Empress a new name. Bastian takes up the challenge, and finds himself crossing the Swamps of Sadness and the Silver Mountains, meeting sorcerers and giants, bats and night-hobs, gnomes and racing snails, as he journeys bravely toward the Ivory Tower, Bastian's quest is filled with all the wonders of myth and fairy tale. It is a fantasy adventure that will capture your heart - and recapture the magical dreams of childhood.

Review Quotes

"An instantaneous leap into the magical ... Energetic, innovative, and perceptive"
--The Washington Post"A rich, enjoyable read ... Succeeds by drawing in the most potent elements of fairytale, myth, and invented fantasy."
--The Observer
"You might just get in touch with the child in you who clapped her hands for Tinker Bell."
--Glamour
"A trumpet blast for the imagination."
--Sunday Times

About the Author

Michael Ende was born in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, in 1929. After attending drama school from 1948 to 1950, he worked variously as an actor, a writer of sketches and plays, a director of the Volkstheater in Munich, and a film critic for the Bavarian broadcasting company. His first novel for children, Jim Knopf and Lukas the Engine Driver, was published in Germany in 1960 to great popular and critical acclaim, and both radio and televsion series based on the Jim Knopf books were soon produced. In 1973 he published another award-winning children's novel, Momo. When The Neverending Story was first published in Germany in 1979 it immediately became the number-one bestseller arnd remained in that position for three years. It has since been published in many different languages all over the world, including Japanese, and has enchanted readers in each country in which it has appeared.