Book Review: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

How sweet it is.

 

 

WOOHOO! YEAH! 250 POSTS!!! WHOOPEE! ALL RIGHT! YAAAAY! Ahh...uhmm...(Ahem), now on to the review...

 

 

 

This book, which is most likely Roald Dahl's most popular, concerns Charlie Bucket, a poor paperboy who's family never has anything decent to eat. In fact, more than anything, they'd really like some nice candy! One day, Charlie finds a Golden Ticket, which will earn him a tour of famous candymaker Willy Wonka's factory, as well as a year's supply of candy! Charlie is joined on the tour by four obnoxious bratty kids: gluttonous Augustus Gloop, greedy little rich girl Veruca Salt, gum-chewing champion Violet Beaureguarde, and television addict Mike Teavee, who are all vying for the prize, too. Can Charlie beat out the(highly unpleasant) competition and claim his sweet reward?

 

 

 

 

My thoughts: Although it's probably up for debate as to which of Roald Dahl's books is the best, this one's certainly a pretty good candidate! The storyline is well-written, the characters are very interesting(particularly the Oompa Loompas), and the illustrations* are absolutely lovely. This book was so popular, in fact, that it inspired not one, but two movies and a real-life brand of candy. A definite must-read for any Roald Dahl fan.

 

Buy the book on Amazon!

 

Buy the 1971 Movie on Amazon!

 

Buy the 2005 Movie on Amazon! 





 

 

 

*The illustrations here are from an older and more rare copy of the book, illustrated by Joseph Schindelman. There's a more common version of this book, illustrated by Quentin Blake, which is also very nifty!

Book Review:George's Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl

Something's cookin' in the kitchen!

Here's a review of yet another Roald Dahl classic.

George is a little boy who lives on a farm with his parents, and has a kinda'...sorta'...(VERY!) huge problem:his grandma. You see, she isn't your typical kind of grandma, the sweet, kind, loves-her grandkids-like-crazy, gives-plenty-of-hugs-and-kisses, takes-her-grandkids-out-for-ice-cream-and/or-to-the-zoo kind. No, she's the meanest, nastiest, most hygeine-deficient old lady you'd ever care to meet, and constantly bullies poor little George.(George even wonders if she might be a witch...Honestly, she missed a good bet if she wasn't!)

George is in charge of giving Granny her medicine; he notes to himself that it never seems to her any good, because it never improves her demeanor at all. So, George decides then and there that he'll cook up a medicine that hopefully will change her attitude. He then sets about roaming around the house, gathering up various household items(shaving cream, floor wax, birdseed, hairspray, antifreeze et al.) and mixing them up in a large cooking pot.

When George gives this concoction to Granny, however, it ends up having an effect he hadn't reckoned on...it causes her to grow to a GINORMOUS size!(Unfortunately, however, it doesn't improve upon her mood at all.) :-(

Granny doesn't believe that George's medicine caused this, so George endeavors to prove it to her by feeding the medicine to a nearby chicken, which also not only grows huge, but lays a massive egg.

George's father is very intrigued by this, and asks George to dose several other farm animals(chickens, cows, pigs, sheep et al.) as well. George's father wants to market the medicine...but can George remember the formula? And what about Grandma?


My thoughts:Honestly, this is one of Dahl's funnier books, with animals(as well as Granny!) jittering around, flying into the air, and screaming "OWEE!", and many weird, wacky things happening. (Triple LOL with whipped cream and a strawberry on top!)
:-D :-D :-D

My only beef about this book is:

-Like a few other people that have reviewed this book, I didn't much go for what ended up happening to the grandma.(To embellish upon a quote from this Littlest Pet Shop episode, "The old lady was creepy, but even she didn't deserve that!)

All in all, a good, humorous, well-written book that any Roald Dahl aficionado is sure to enjoy.

Buy it on Amazon!

Book Review:The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl

Another review of another classic by the great Roald Dahl.

This story is told from the perspective of a little girl whose neighbors, the Greggs(Mr. and Mrs. Gregg and their sons Philip and William*) are very avid hunters; every Saturday, they go into the woods seeking out various animals(mostly ducks and deer) for the pleasure of shooting them. Naturally, the little girl doesn't appreciate this, and she tries to tell the Greggs to stop, but they rudely give her the brush-off. Well, this turns out to be a very unwise move on their part, because something they don't realize about this particular little girl is that she has...a MAGIC FINGER!

All this little girl has to do is point her magic finger at someone, and fantastic things happen to them. Proof positive comes the next morning when the Greggs wake up to discover that they've shrunken down to duck size and grown wings!!

And, on top of this, a family of ducks end up growing to human size, gaining human arms, and taking up residence in the Greggs' house!

The Greggs have to adjust to life despite this...but will they ever learn their lesson?




My thoughts:This is a very cute, clever, well-written book; the illustrations by Tony Ross(who also illustrated, among other things, the Little Wolf book series) are excellent.** The story, interestingly enough, has two morals. The first, more obvious one is, as the ever-quotable Popeye once said, "Be kind to aminals", which is, in fact, a pretty good idea. :-D  The second, slightly more vague moral is presented by the little girl herself, in that she tends to zap people, in anger, with her magic finger, and ends up appalled by the end results, the implicit moral being, "It's best if people control their tempers, otherwise they never know what can of worms  they might open," which is also a pretty good idea.

My only beefs about this book are:

-It's kind of short, especially compared with Dahl's other books.

-We never do find out what the little girl's name is.

All things said, this is a good, high-quality, and very enjoyable Roald Dahl classic.


*On an interesting note, the sons' names could be abbreviated as, "Phil and Will"(or possibly "Phil and Bill), which sounds similar to the names of another certain famous pair of siblings.

**There's another version of this book with illustrations by Quentin Blake(who's illustrated most of Dahl's other books); the illustrations of which are also very good.

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Book Review:The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl

Here's a review of one of the late, great Roald Dahl's lesser-known books.

The story is told from the POV of a little boy named Billy, who, while passing by an old, abandoned building labeled, "The Grubber"(old British slang for a candy store)...

 No, not one of those!

...finds that it's been bought by the "Ladderless Window-Cleaning Company", which is comprised of a trio of (very cute!) talking(and singing!) animals:

A giraffe with an extending neck, who serves as the ladder, a pelican(occasionally called "The Pelly") with a retractable upper beak, who seves as the bucket, and a dancing monkey who washes the windows. (On an interesting note, BTW, the words Giraffe, Pelican, and Monkey are always capitalized in the book, as if they're the animals' proper names.) Billy becomes fast friends with these critters; they soon get a call from the Duke of Hampshire who needs all 677 of his mansion's window's washed.

They regrettably don't hit it off with the Duke right away, but they fortunately are eventually able to get on his good side, and end up befriending him, too.

My thoughts:This is definetly Roald Dahl's cutest, most lighthearted book, bereft of the magic, dark overtones, and occasional Downer Endings (George's Marvelous Medicine, anyone?) that are usually present in his books. The animals are cute, lovable, and appealing; they, Billy(and even the Duke!) are good, interesting characters with plenty of personality. An underappreciated book which is more than worth a read.(There's even a reference to Willy Wonka!)

Buy it on Amazon!