The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket

By: John Boyne

Narrated by: Richard Goulding

There's nothing unusual about the Brockets. Normal, respectable, and proud of it, they turn up their noses at anyone strange or different. But from the moment Barnaby Brocket comes into the world, it's clear he's anything but ordinary. To his parents’ horror, Barnaby defies the laws of gravity - and floats.

Desperate to please his parents, Barnaby does his best to keep both feet on the ground - but he just can't do it. One fateful day, the Brockets decide enough is enough. They never asked for a weird, abnormal, floating child. Barnaby has to go....

Betrayed, frightened and alone, Barnaby floats into the path of a very special hot air balloon - and so begins a magical journey around the world, with a cast of extraordinary new friends.

2014, Kate Greenaway Medal, Long-listed

2013, Carnegie Medal, Long-listed

©2012 John Boyne (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

Mr and Mrs Brocket live an obsessively normal life in Sydney - until their third child, Barnaby, is born. Because Barnaby floats, like a helium-filled balloon, unless he is weighted down. Embarrassed and frustrated by their son’s inability to be normal, they cut him loose at the age of eight, and Barnaby floats away on a series of adventures . . . Boyne’s previous children’s novels (The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, Noah Barleywater Runs Away) have dealt with serious, life-changing themes and his deftness of touch is equally evident in this uplifting celebration of otherness (Sally Morris)

Delightfully quirky . . . with a delightful cast of characters, this books celebrates and acknowledges difference (Vanessa Lewis)

It's unashamedly and often delightfully whimsical. It's lovely to look at . . . It has much of the pell-mell what-the-hell-happens-nextness of Dahl and Ibbotson (Mal Peet)

A whimsical, warm-hearted adventure . . . beautifully illustrated by Oliver Jeffers (Fiona Noble)