As mentioned in another post, I have been struggling with my reading of late. I seem to be going through a slow reading period. It normally passes, but until then I am focusing on reading to my kids. They recently discovered Roald Dahl's books and have been enjoying the tales. Though I personally was a fan of these I also have come to understand that they have problem areas that have to be discussed when reached.
Title: The BFG
Author: Roald Dahl
Illustrator: Quentin Blake
Blurb: Captured by a giant! The BFG is no ordinary bone-crunching giant. He is far too nice and jumbly. It's lucky for Sophie that he is. Had she been carried off in the middle of the night by the Bloodbottler, the Fleshlumpeater, the Bonecruncher, or any of the other giants-rather than the BFG-she would have soon become breakfast.
When Sophie hears that they are flush-bunking off in England to swollomp a few nice little chiddlers, she decides she must stop them once and for all. And the BFG is going to help her!
Format: 199 pages, Hardback
Review
As mentioned, I like many, enjoyed the BFG and wanted to share this with the kids. It is also such a well-known title that I can't add much new information to the review. It has such a fun, lightheartedness to it. It fills the imagination with giants and humour.
What is truly well done by Dahl is the combining of the real world with the fantasy world. You end up with a mashed landscape that has you questioning what is around the corner and if that shadow that moved outside was actually a giant. After reading we had collective fun hunting giants around the house and yard and for this alone reading, the story was worthwhile.
But for me, it definitely felt different. Firstly the humour is on point and very obvious, but made it seem more fun. The kids enjoyed it as a funny word, but as an adult, you understand the meaning which makes it more magical. But as I mentioned the book is not without its problems, suffering from some 1970s stereotyping and just low-level humour. In some lines, I skipped with the kids and in others, we chatted about why they are wrong and poorly chosen. I feel it is important to point this out to kids so they start noticing these issues while allowing them to still enjoy a fun story.
Overall a fun and entertaining story, revisiting a book I read twenty-five plus years ago.
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