#13 in Middle grade
Howl's Moving Castle
- 455
- Pages
- about 8 h
- Reading time
- Phoenix Award
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About the book
Howl's Moving Castle is a fantasy novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones, first published in 1986 by Greenwillow Books of New York. It was a runner-up for the annual Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, and won the Phoenix Award twenty years later. It was adapted into a Studio Ghibli animated film of the same name in 2004, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Reading order · Howl’s Moving Castle series
Full order & progress →- Howl's Moving CastleThis book
8.38.3 / 10 - Castle in the Air
7.77.7 / 10 - House of Many Ways
7.87.8 / 10
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.3 across 1,213 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 89% of the weight and the score stays at 8.3 — the Middle grade average of 8.0 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Books | 10.0 | 5 | 0% |
| Hardcover | 8.3 | 1.2K | 100% |
Reader voices
The most-liked reviews on Hardcover (credited to their authors).
“I watched the film many times before reading this book and I wish I had read this earlier. I found the book to be better story wise compared to the film although the films visuals fit the story so well. The book is not quite…”
“Very weird with delightful characters. Plot is pretty difficult to follow. Love the movie and this didn't disappoint but it is different in a fun way (they go to Wales!!)”
Frequently asked
What age is Howl's Moving Castle for?
Howl's Moving Castle sits on the Middle grade shelf in the sources we use, which by convention means roughly ages 8–12. This is a guide from the book’s category, not a publisher’s age rating. It has 455 pages — shorter than 62% of the ranked books in Middle grade.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Middle grade — with scores between 8.1 and 8.4, closest to this book.
