Book Review: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

This story is a familiar one because of the movies that have been made. I just finished reading it to the kids during our read-aloud time in our homeschool. Since you all already know the plot, I won't bore you by retelling it here. Instead, I will simply touch on the specific things we enjoyed and one negative. 


The creativity Dahl exhibits in crafting his tale is delightful. Simply delightful. The kids were a little hesitant when learning of my choice of this title as our next book. Having seen the movie, they thought the book would bore them. But as is true with most books that are adapted for movies, the book is definitely superior. 


The copy I read to them is from 1964 and the illustrations are whimsical and engaging. Simple line drawings, they are quite humorous. They contain enough details, but not so many that your imagination is not sparked to expand each scene.


Dahl's descriptions of the factory and characters are brilliant in their economy. I love an author who believes his readers to be intelligent and treats them that way. 


Now, there were several phrases used in conversations that we do not consider appropriate in our family. But, using it as a read aloud, I simply make substitutions "on the fly" and so it's a non-issue. 


After their less than enthusiastic initial response, the sequel has been unanimously chosen as our next read aloud. I am not familiar with the plot for it, so we will have to see if it is as successful as the this one. 


#44 out of 52 in the challenge to read a book a week for a year. The calendar is dwindling down to the last few busy weeks and there are still 8 more books to go!! It's time to buckle down and READ!

www.read52booksin52weeks.com