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May 30, 2014
Two classic children's books by Roald Dahl!
The BFG holding lovely little Sophie.
Mean, cruel, terrible, awful, beastly....The Trunchbull!
For Christmas this year, our 7y/o daughter received a Roald Dahl boxed set (thank you so much Aunt Randi!). And I was unexpectedly surprised to realize I haven’t read any of his books. Actually, I did recently listen to the audiobook of "James and the Giant Peach", read by Jeremy Irons. Which was absolutely phenomenal, by the way....I highly recommend it!
Anyways, I was quite excited to dive into Dahl for the first time and really read his work.
What did I learn? You should probably pick two books other than "The BFG" and "Matilda" if, like me, you are just getting started with him AND you are reading aloud with a little one. Both these classic books have several fairly intense scene and touch on some serious subject matter. Allow me to elaborate...
The BFG
This book is about a group of enormous scary giants who EAT lots of children. These brutes dash off around the world, every night, and eat as many as they can until they're full. The only giant who doesn't do this is the BFG, of course, whose name stands for ‘Big Friendly Giant’. At nighttime, this lovable lug lopes around spreading nice dreams to little boys and girls. One evening, the BFG snatches up Sophie, a young girl who accidentally stays up too late and catches him in action. After becoming fast friends, the two hatch a plan to thwart the evil-doings of the other giants.
The most memorable parts of this book are the creative nonsense words which the BFG speaks. He hasn't had much proper "learning", so he doesn't use the same terms as Sophie, which makes reading their intricate dialogue a rollicking good time. I have a feeling this was what our 7 y/o liked best about the book. The BFG's crazy talk is well thought out and expertly written by Dahl, making it a truly exquisite creation.
Examples of the BFG’s silly speak:
“Titchy little snapperwhippers like you should not be higgling around with an old sage and onions who is hundreds of years more than you.”
“Words', he (the BFG) said, 'is oh such a twitch-tickling problem to me all my life. So you must simply try to be patient and stop squibbling. As I am telling you before, I know exactly what words I am wanting to say, but somehow or other they is always getting squiff-squiddled around.”
Wonderful stuff!
The book also has several unique line drawings (by Mr. Quentin Blake) of things like Sophie, the BFG and the meanie giants - to help us readers visualize these characters. The illustrations are fantastic and they complement the story quite well.
By now you may be wondering - so what’s wrong with "The BFG" then? Just the creepy child-eating stuff, that’s all! To be honest and somewhat surprisingly, none of it bothered our 7 y/o. She LOVED this book. And I think it’s because she’d liked everything else of Dahl’s she’d read or heard. So to her ears, he could do no wrong and thus, she was fine with the bits of badness in "The BFG". But I found myself thinking this could easily frighten some young ones. The scary giants are straight up evil and Dahl describes their monsterly mannerisms, without pulling punches. They talk awfully as well and they bully the BFG. Bottom line, know your audience if you are going to read "The BFG" aloud and make sure they can handle some fairly serious kid-eating bad guys.
My suggestion is to start with other Dahl books so you can get used to his wonderful writing style and fall in love with his amazing stories. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" would be an obvious easy one. Then your affection for him and his writing will likely win out over the frightening bad guys in "The BFG" and they won’t bother you or your little ones as much.
Lastly - it was just announced that there’s a live-action BFG movie due out in a few years....directed by Spielberg! So read the book now and enjoy the film later.
Matilda
As a book character, Matilda may be the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful, smartest, loveliest little girl ever created. Her parents, on the other hand, may very well be the two worst people in all of kid’s literature. And the headmistress at Matilda’s school - a vile woman known as The Trunchbull - is certainly one of the evilest, cruelest character to ever show up in a book. Despite all that, "Matilda" is a great read....if you are ready for it!
Matilda Wormwood is a precocious child who can read, do math, think, talk and basically do everything WAY above her age level. She’s truly gifted (magic even?) but her parents don’t see her that way and nor does her school’s headmistress, the beastly Trunchbull. Fortunately, Miss Honey (Matilda’s teacher) recognizes how special the little girl is and together, the two of them win the day.
"Matilda" is also nicely illustrated with simple-yet-interesting line drawings by Quentin Blake. I always enjoy a bit of art in children's books and I particularly like the way these drawings are quietly and effectively inserted in the text.
Unbelievably, through it all, Matilda remains positive, upbeat and holds a practical attitude about things. She does not see people’s meanness as the world ganging up against her, she simply understands it’s how things happen to be. There’s no “woe is me” in this child. Thus, she steadfastly works to improve her life and the lives of those around her. Which is remarkable because the awfulness she faces at every turn definitely seems overwhelming.
Her parents consistently ignore her except when they are cruelly insulting her. To cope, Matilda plays little pranks to get back at them. The mom and dad are pretty dull and ignorant so their interactions with Matilda are, for the most part, kind of funny. Though to imagine a parent really treating a child that way - and for a child to prank her parents right back - is simply ghastly.
The silly meanness between Matilda and her parents is absolutely nothing compared to Miss Trunchbull. She’s a brute, a bully and a beast. The Trunchbull spends so many scenes hollering horrible insult at the children in Matilda’s school - I couldn’t help but think of the epic rants spewed out by Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in "Full Metal Jacket". Yes, that’s an extreme comparison but honestly, minus the language, there’s very little difference between Hartman and Trunchbull. Trunchbull despises children and she makes no effort to hide that fact. A prime example of her extreme cruelty is when Dahl explains some punishment (torture) tactics the headmistress uses in her office, which are really creepy. And he writes scene after scene of her verbally abusing the kids. Again, it’s strangely not overly offensive because it’s part of his style and you like Dahl and his books so much that you sort of look past the awfulness. But make no mistake - the Trunchbull is a nightmare. Our 7 y/o didn’t mind her though, which again surprised me. I’d say “Man, she sure is mean isn’t she? Good thing this is a book and no one like that really exists.” And my daughter would chuckle and agree. Probably not all kids could be so easily smoothed over though.
**SPOILER ALERT** Lastly, I have to talk about Matilda’s teacher Miss Honey’s tragic backstory, which comes out towards the end of the book. It involves the suicide or possible murder of Miss Honey’s father and her sad upbringing that follows. This whole bit of the book really pops out of nowhere and it totally caught me off guard. Up until then we had nasty parents, the terrible Trunchbull flinging insults around and quite a lot of bullying from the lot of them - but those parts were handled. However, the suicide/murder part I found to be a little over the top. Really, all of Miss Honey’s story is terribly tragic and I felt it would be hard for my daughter to take. When I realized from the context of the story and from skimming ahead that these topics were coming up - I quickly decided to entirely skip those parts. It was just a personal decision. I believe it’s important to know that this really challenging stuff shows up at the end of "Matilda" - so make sure you are prepared. Possibly even read the last few chapters and make some notes to yourself.
Now, I must say again that the uplifting, intelligent, fascinating spirit of the character Matilda does absolutely carry the story. Her overwhelming goodness balances out and even defeats most of the bad. Also, the book’s ending is gloriously happy (thankfully). But there are many uncomfortable, ugly and potentially frightening puddles to jump over before you get there.
As I mentioned in "The BFG" review - reading other books of Dahl’s first may establish a love for his writing which could trump these questionable themes in "Matilda". "James and the Giant Peach" is another excellent one to start with. James has some mean aunts and I think he gets teased/bullied a little bit by some other kids....but to my memory, "J and the GP" is much lighter in tone and more what you’d expect from a kid’s book.
Overall, Roald Dahl is a phenomenal writer, as you’d expect, and his extraordinarily imaginative stories are unrivaled. His characters are truly remarkable and you’ll absolutely love the good guys - especially Matilda, Sophie and the BFG. If you don’t know Dahl, definitely give him a try, but know that he doesn’t hold back so be prepared for some potentially difficult moments.
Our Dahl boxed set has many more books in it, so look forward to more reviews of his work in the coming months!
Anyways, I was quite excited to dive into Dahl for the first time and really read his work.
What did I learn? You should probably pick two books other than "The BFG" and "Matilda" if, like me, you are just getting started with him AND you are reading aloud with a little one. Both these classic books have several fairly intense scene and touch on some serious subject matter. Allow me to elaborate...
The BFG
This book is about a group of enormous scary giants who EAT lots of children. These brutes dash off around the world, every night, and eat as many as they can until they're full. The only giant who doesn't do this is the BFG, of course, whose name stands for ‘Big Friendly Giant’. At nighttime, this lovable lug lopes around spreading nice dreams to little boys and girls. One evening, the BFG snatches up Sophie, a young girl who accidentally stays up too late and catches him in action. After becoming fast friends, the two hatch a plan to thwart the evil-doings of the other giants.
The most memorable parts of this book are the creative nonsense words which the BFG speaks. He hasn't had much proper "learning", so he doesn't use the same terms as Sophie, which makes reading their intricate dialogue a rollicking good time. I have a feeling this was what our 7 y/o liked best about the book. The BFG's crazy talk is well thought out and expertly written by Dahl, making it a truly exquisite creation.
Examples of the BFG’s silly speak:
“Titchy little snapperwhippers like you should not be higgling around with an old sage and onions who is hundreds of years more than you.”
“Words', he (the BFG) said, 'is oh such a twitch-tickling problem to me all my life. So you must simply try to be patient and stop squibbling. As I am telling you before, I know exactly what words I am wanting to say, but somehow or other they is always getting squiff-squiddled around.”
Wonderful stuff!
The book also has several unique line drawings (by Mr. Quentin Blake) of things like Sophie, the BFG and the meanie giants - to help us readers visualize these characters. The illustrations are fantastic and they complement the story quite well.
By now you may be wondering - so what’s wrong with "The BFG" then? Just the creepy child-eating stuff, that’s all! To be honest and somewhat surprisingly, none of it bothered our 7 y/o. She LOVED this book. And I think it’s because she’d liked everything else of Dahl’s she’d read or heard. So to her ears, he could do no wrong and thus, she was fine with the bits of badness in "The BFG". But I found myself thinking this could easily frighten some young ones. The scary giants are straight up evil and Dahl describes their monsterly mannerisms, without pulling punches. They talk awfully as well and they bully the BFG. Bottom line, know your audience if you are going to read "The BFG" aloud and make sure they can handle some fairly serious kid-eating bad guys.
My suggestion is to start with other Dahl books so you can get used to his wonderful writing style and fall in love with his amazing stories. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" would be an obvious easy one. Then your affection for him and his writing will likely win out over the frightening bad guys in "The BFG" and they won’t bother you or your little ones as much.
Lastly - it was just announced that there’s a live-action BFG movie due out in a few years....directed by Spielberg! So read the book now and enjoy the film later.
Matilda
As a book character, Matilda may be the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful, smartest, loveliest little girl ever created. Her parents, on the other hand, may very well be the two worst people in all of kid’s literature. And the headmistress at Matilda’s school - a vile woman known as The Trunchbull - is certainly one of the evilest, cruelest character to ever show up in a book. Despite all that, "Matilda" is a great read....if you are ready for it!
Matilda Wormwood is a precocious child who can read, do math, think, talk and basically do everything WAY above her age level. She’s truly gifted (magic even?) but her parents don’t see her that way and nor does her school’s headmistress, the beastly Trunchbull. Fortunately, Miss Honey (Matilda’s teacher) recognizes how special the little girl is and together, the two of them win the day.
"Matilda" is also nicely illustrated with simple-yet-interesting line drawings by Quentin Blake. I always enjoy a bit of art in children's books and I particularly like the way these drawings are quietly and effectively inserted in the text.
Unbelievably, through it all, Matilda remains positive, upbeat and holds a practical attitude about things. She does not see people’s meanness as the world ganging up against her, she simply understands it’s how things happen to be. There’s no “woe is me” in this child. Thus, she steadfastly works to improve her life and the lives of those around her. Which is remarkable because the awfulness she faces at every turn definitely seems overwhelming.
Her parents consistently ignore her except when they are cruelly insulting her. To cope, Matilda plays little pranks to get back at them. The mom and dad are pretty dull and ignorant so their interactions with Matilda are, for the most part, kind of funny. Though to imagine a parent really treating a child that way - and for a child to prank her parents right back - is simply ghastly.
The silly meanness between Matilda and her parents is absolutely nothing compared to Miss Trunchbull. She’s a brute, a bully and a beast. The Trunchbull spends so many scenes hollering horrible insult at the children in Matilda’s school - I couldn’t help but think of the epic rants spewed out by Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in "Full Metal Jacket". Yes, that’s an extreme comparison but honestly, minus the language, there’s very little difference between Hartman and Trunchbull. Trunchbull despises children and she makes no effort to hide that fact. A prime example of her extreme cruelty is when Dahl explains some punishment (torture) tactics the headmistress uses in her office, which are really creepy. And he writes scene after scene of her verbally abusing the kids. Again, it’s strangely not overly offensive because it’s part of his style and you like Dahl and his books so much that you sort of look past the awfulness. But make no mistake - the Trunchbull is a nightmare. Our 7 y/o didn’t mind her though, which again surprised me. I’d say “Man, she sure is mean isn’t she? Good thing this is a book and no one like that really exists.” And my daughter would chuckle and agree. Probably not all kids could be so easily smoothed over though.
**SPOILER ALERT** Lastly, I have to talk about Matilda’s teacher Miss Honey’s tragic backstory, which comes out towards the end of the book. It involves the suicide or possible murder of Miss Honey’s father and her sad upbringing that follows. This whole bit of the book really pops out of nowhere and it totally caught me off guard. Up until then we had nasty parents, the terrible Trunchbull flinging insults around and quite a lot of bullying from the lot of them - but those parts were handled. However, the suicide/murder part I found to be a little over the top. Really, all of Miss Honey’s story is terribly tragic and I felt it would be hard for my daughter to take. When I realized from the context of the story and from skimming ahead that these topics were coming up - I quickly decided to entirely skip those parts. It was just a personal decision. I believe it’s important to know that this really challenging stuff shows up at the end of "Matilda" - so make sure you are prepared. Possibly even read the last few chapters and make some notes to yourself.
Now, I must say again that the uplifting, intelligent, fascinating spirit of the character Matilda does absolutely carry the story. Her overwhelming goodness balances out and even defeats most of the bad. Also, the book’s ending is gloriously happy (thankfully). But there are many uncomfortable, ugly and potentially frightening puddles to jump over before you get there.
As I mentioned in "The BFG" review - reading other books of Dahl’s first may establish a love for his writing which could trump these questionable themes in "Matilda". "James and the Giant Peach" is another excellent one to start with. James has some mean aunts and I think he gets teased/bullied a little bit by some other kids....but to my memory, "J and the GP" is much lighter in tone and more what you’d expect from a kid’s book.
Overall, Roald Dahl is a phenomenal writer, as you’d expect, and his extraordinarily imaginative stories are unrivaled. His characters are truly remarkable and you’ll absolutely love the good guys - especially Matilda, Sophie and the BFG. If you don’t know Dahl, definitely give him a try, but know that he doesn’t hold back so be prepared for some potentially difficult moments.
Our Dahl boxed set has many more books in it, so look forward to more reviews of his work in the coming months!