Book #02
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
The gates of Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory are opening at last--and only five children will be allowed inside.
Almost everyone is familiar with this story, whether it’s through the novel itself, or whether its through the films. I fell in love with this book at a very young age, and after having read it again in my old age, I am still in love with the characters and the story.
I think this book teaches a wonderful life lesson. Charlie Bucket is one of the loveliest Dahl children, and he is quite the moralist. It's a rags-to-riches story, and I quite like those.
The book dishes out karma of the most severe kind, with horrible characters getting their comeuppance and Charlie winning his wonderful prize in the end. I think this is a good way to teach children not to be vile, and that being a nice person has its advantages (not that all of us nice people have chocolate factories given to them, we can only dream). To begin with, the nasty children are shown as having everything they could possibly hope for, and then they are brought down by their own gluttony. Karma is a bitch, kids.
Dahl's ability to move the story along is uncanny. Skills such as these are especially required in children's novels, so as not to dull the story down and cause readers to lose interest. He uses dialogue quite a lot to convey scenes, feelings, and actions, and this allows the story to move along at a perfect pace.
This is a lovely light-hearted fantasy novel, and it's a quick and easy read that would be suitable for anyone. It'd also be a delight to read aloud, so it's good for little ones too, and in my opinion should be the staple of each and every childhood!