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Janet's Roald Dahl's Children's Books Challenge! **Completed**


Janet

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I hadn't heard of this one, it's not in my 'Roald Dahl Collection Box Set'. Shame it wasn't as good as some of the other Roald Dahl books. Which one(s) are your favourites (so far)?

Whoops - I totally missed this.  Sorry.  :)

 

My favourites have been Boy (memoir) and Esio Trot, both 5/5, George's Marvellous Medicine - 4½/5  and Fantastic Mr Fox and Matilda (both 4/5).  My least favourite was Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator which I hated.  :blush:

 

I still have Danny, the Champion of the World to read.  :)

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Those are some great titles! I wasn't a big fan of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator either, I much preferred Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

 

I hope you enjoy Danny, the Champion of the World :).

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  • 3 weeks later...

Book 20/22

 

034-2016-Apr-24-Rhyme%20Stew_zpsh50dx2go
 
 
Rhyme Stew by Roald Dahl
 
The ‘blurb’
A collection of irreverant rhymes featuring characters from fairy tales, fables and nursery rhymes - as you've never seen them before! From the tortoise and the hare and Hansel and Gretel to Ali Baba and Aladdin, these traditional stories will never seem the same again once you have had a taste of Roald Dahl's hilarious verse and Quentin Blake's suitably lively illustrations.
 
An inventive collection for older children and adults alike, Rhyme Stew bubbles over with Roald Dahl's extraordinary humour and imagination.

 
Another Dahl Challenge book.  More Rhymes for young children along the lines of:
 

Hey diddle diddle

We’re all on the fiddle

And never get up until noon.

We only take cash

Which we carefully stash,

And we work by the light of the moon.

 
With Quentin Blake’s usual illustrations.
 
Rhyme%20Stew_zpsqixj4q3u.jpg
 
I haven’t much to say about this book apart from the fact that it was mildly amusing but that’s because I’m definitely not the target audience. 
 
The paperback edition is 96 pages long and is published by Puffin.  It was first published in 1989.   The ISBN is 9780141346670.  
 
2/5 (It was okay)
 
(Finished 24 April 2016)

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I've not heard of this one, it's not in my Roald Dahl collection boxset. Shame it wasn't so great for adults.

Sorry, Gaia, I missed your post.  I think it's inevitable as this was for very young children.  I really should have read these ones first.  :)

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038-2016-May-12-The%20Minpins_zps2doirnm
 

The Minpins by Roald Dahl

The ‘blurb’
Little Billy doesn't really believe there are monsters in the wood, but the red-hot smoke-belching gruncher is real enough, and so are the tiny minpins, whose minature world is in danger.
 

"Beware! Beware! The Forest of Sin! None come out, but many go in!"


With this warning from his mother ringing in his ears, Billy leaves the house and enters the forbidden forest where untold dangers lurk. When pursued by one of the monsters he was warned about, he takes refuge up a tree where he discovers that he isn’t the only person hiding there. Maybe, with help, Billy can make things better and make it home…

I enjoyed this cautionary tale from the master of such stories, despite not being the target audience. This book was not illustrated by Quentin Blake like most of Dahl’s books – instead the illustrator is Patrick Benson. He’s not an illustrator I’m familiar with but I thought he did a good job. I don’t have much else to say about it!

The paperback edition is 48 pages long and is published by Puffin. It was first published in 1991. The ISBN is 9780141501789.

3/5 (I enjoyed it)

(Finished 12 May 2016)
 

 

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Thanks, Gaia  :)

 

041-2016-May-16-Dirty%20Beasts_zpss7i6kv

 

Dirty Beasts by Roald Dahl

 

The ‘blurb’

A collection of (mainly) grisly beasts out for human blood, ranging from Gocky-Wock the crocodile to Sting-A-Ling the scorpion. Described in verse with all Dahl's usual gusto and illustrated in suitably lurid style by Quentin Blake.

 

Just the usual, really – not my thing as I’m far removed from the target audience! 

 

2/5 (Okay)

 

(Finished 16 May 2016)

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050-2016-Jul-06%20-%20Gremlins_zpscaggbz

Gremlins by Roald Dahl

The ‘blurb’
The Gremlins is the story of Gus, a British World War II fighter pilot, who during the Battle of Britain turned to look out on the wing of his plane only to see an amazing sight: a little man, no more than six inches tall with horns growing from his head, drilling a hole in the plane's wing. Gus was the first man to ever see a Gremlin, and what happened after that would change the war, and the world, forever. Bought by Walt Disney to be produced as an animated motion picture (and considered to be the first story featuring the mythical airplane sabotaging creatures known as Gremlins), the project was ultimately shelved and is reprinted here for the first time in over 60 years.

I managed to borrow a copy of this, the first book by Roald Dahl, as it’s out of print and second hand copies are very expensive.

The Gremlins are small creatures who live in the woods, but when their home is destroyed in order to build an aircraft factory, they swear that there will be severe reprisals. Pilot Gus’s plane is sabotaged by them. Can he manage to persuade them that they should unite and fight Hitler and the Nazis, or are the Gremlins too bent on revenge to listen...

The paperback edition is 56 pages long and was republished by Dark Horse in 2006 but is out of print. It was first published in 1943. The ISBN is 9781593074968.

2½/5 (It was okay)

(Finished 6 July 2016)

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054-2016-Jul-21%20-%20Danny%20the%20Cham

Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

The ‘blurb’
Danny lives in a gipsy caravan with his father, the most marvellous and exciting father any boy ever had.
All the land around them belongs to Mr Victor Hazell, a rich snob with a great glistening beery face and tiny piggy eyes. Nobody likes him, not one-little bit. So one day, Danny and his father concoct a daring plot that will give the old blue-faced baboon Victor Hazell the greatest shock of his life - so long as they don't get caught ...


Danny lives with his father in a caravan behind the garage where his father works. Danny’s mother died when he was a child but his father does a great job of bringing him up. Financially they are not rich, but what they lack in money, they more than make up for in happiness. When Danny is nine he discovers that his father has a secret – he poaches pheasants from the unpleasant Mr Hazell’s land. But poaching is not without its pitfalls and it will be up to Danny to save the day…

This book brings to a close my challenge to read all of Dahl’s books aimed at children plus his two biographies, Boy and Going Solo.

I felt that this had a different feel from the other children’s books – it was much more believable somehow. I liked Danny and his father – and the villain of the piece was wonderfully dislikeable. I’m sure if I’d read this as a child I would have loved it. Reading as an adult, it wasn’t my favourite of Dahl’s books but I definitely feel I left one of the best until last.

The paperback edition is 240 pages long and was published by Puffin. It was first published in 1975. The ISBN is 9780141365411.

4/5 (I really enjoyed it)

(Finished 21 July 2016)

 

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Overall Scores in order of favourite! 

 

Blue = Autobiographical

Red = Children's

Green = Picture Books for very young children

 

Boy 5/5

Esio Trot 5/5
George's Marvellous Medicine 4½/5
Fantastic Mr Fox 4/5
Danny, the Champion of the World 4/5
Matilda 4/5
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 3½/5
The Witches 3½/5
James and the Giant Peach 3/5
The Enormous Crocodile 3/5
The BFG 3/5
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me 3/5
The Vicar of Nibbleswicke 3/5
The Minpins 3/5

Going Solo 3/5
The Gremlin 2½/5
The Magic Finger 2½/5
The Twits 2½/5

Revolting Rhymes 2½/5
Dirty Beasts 2/5
Rhyme Stew 2/5

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator 1/5

 

I started this challenge back in February 2012 after reading the autobiographical Boy (which was my favourite of his books) and finished it in July this year, the year of Dahl's 100th birthday.

 

I don't know why I didn't read these as a child.  They'd probably all have been right up my street then (maybe not the picture books).  I might not even have loathed Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator if I'd actually read it as part of the target audience!  :giggle:

 

Overall I enjoyed the challenge, although I'm glad it's ended.  Will I read any of them again?  Maybe, if and when I become a grandparent!  Hopefully not for a few years yet...!

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Congratulations on finishing your challenge.

 

I love Roald Dahl's books but I have to agree with you about Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator which I found to be pretty pointless to be honest.  It had no bearing whatsoever on the first Charlie book.  My favourite will always be Matilda, followed by the BFG who I have a bit of soft spot for (mainly because the original animated film with David Jason as the BFG is fabulous and whenever I read the book I picture the film).

 

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The film version of Matilda is very good also.  Mara Wilson is great as Matilda.

 

Haven't read any Roald Dahl for a while, although I did buy a boxset of his books a while back, to replace my original copies which I can't find.  Might need to dig them out and have a re-read.

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Haven't read any Roald Dahl for a while, although I did buy a boxset of his books a while back, to replace my original copies which I can't find.  Might need to dig them out and have a re-read.

Enjoy them if you do.  :)

 

Congratulations on completing your challenge - I really need to read more Roald Dahl :)

Thanks, Laura.  :)  

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As we discussed yesterday, I realised when watching the programme about the ten favourite Dahl books, that I haven't actually read that many of them!  I don't think I'd read them all like you have, but I might put together a list (probably the top 10 list from the programme) and try and read them all.  Oh, and I've found the George's Marvellous Medicine Jackanory episodes to watch as well! :lol:

 

 

Congratulations on completing the challenge though, it must be great to tick this one off your list! :D

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