Top 5 Books by Roald Dahl
5 of the Best Stories by the Celebrated Children’s Author
Matilda
Matilda is about a young girl with special psychic powers. Bullied and neglected by her terrible parents and her mean teacher Mrs Trunchbull, Matilda uses these special powers to exact her revenge on all of them.
Not as dark as many of his other books Matilda is a gentle introduction to Dahl’s twisted and strange world. Matilda was one of the last children’s books he wrote before his death in 1990 and it was made into a film in 1996 directed by and starring Danny Devito.
George’s Marvellous Medicine
George is a boy tormented by his selfish grandmother. In an attempt to cure her of her wickedness he creates a medicine using every ingredient he can get his hands on. But instead of it curing his grandmother it turns her into a giant. George’s farmer father sees a business opportunity thinking he can create giant farm animals with the medicine. The only problem is George can’t remember the exact recipe.
This is a very funny and entertaining book but it should be made clear to the child reading it that pouring the contents of every medicine cupboard in the house into a saucepan and feeding it to their Grandparents is not a wise thing to do.
Fantastic Mr Fox
This is about the battle between a fox and three evil farmers. Mr Fox needs food to support his family but the farmers want him dead. The farmers eventually manage to trap Mr Fox in his hole and try to starve him out. It’s a humorous battle of wits with Mr Fox coming out on top in the end.
It’s a great book especially for children who love animals. The best version features the illustrations of Quentin Blake. Blake’s scratchy style suits this story perfectly. Fantastic Mr Fox has been made into an opera by Tobias Picker and is being made into a Hollywood film with George Clooney in the title role.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Poor child Charlie Bucket finds one of five golden tickets inviting him to the mysterious chocolate factory. Factory owner Willy Wonka promises a special prize to one of the children at the at the end of the visit. But which child will get the prize?
A lovely tale that’s enriched by Dahl’s superbly colourful descriptions of the sweets in the factory and his amazing characterisation of the other children. There are two film versions of the story one starring Gene Wilder and another starring Johnny Depp. The Gene Wilder film is a musical and is more suitable for children.
The Twits
The twits are a disgusting and ugly couple who spend their lives tormenting the animals around them. They have monkeys in cages and smother trees with glue to capture birds. But this all changes with the arrival of the Roly-Poly bird who hatches a plan to get the Twits back.
The Roly-Poly bird glues the Twit’s furniture to the ceiling when they are out. On their return some of the remaining birds sprinkle glue in Mr and Mrs Twits hair. The Twits, because of the furniture, think they’re upside down and stand on their heads. They get stuck and the monkeys and birds are free.
Kids will enjoy the grotesque descriptions of Mr and Mrs Twit. The sections about Mr Twits’ disgusting beard in particular. It’s also very short and can be read in a couple of sittings.
Other Recommended Roald Dahl Books
Danny Champion of the World
The BFG
The Witches
James and the Giant Peach
