Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

This is an interesting, fun chapter book for a number of reasons. The main character, Charlie, is the perfect underdog who all children can relate to. Relating to Charlie is not hard because every child has experienced the dissapointment of not being a winner or not having something many other children have. Compared to the four other golden ticket winners, Charlie has nothing... but at the same time he has none of the negative personality traits that come from unlimited access to certain pleasures in life (food, wealth, television, free personal conduct).
The story moves quickly and uses suspense in a number of creative ways, from the build-up to Charlie finally unwrapping the winning candy bar to Mr. Wonka's playful yet semi-dire warnings about certain forbidden sections of his factory.
Willy Wonka's chocolate factory contains so many ideal rooms and wonders that any reader would be captivated just imagining them. Seeing the 'naughty' children get into sticky situations in clever ways that relate to their respective sins of overindulgence is entertaining and satisfying to the reader. The Oompa-Loompas provide clever songs, each containing a lesson, and Mr. Wonka is a well-developed yet highly unpredictable character, who's over-the-top enthusiasm and clever word-plays will be sure to keep readers laughing their way to the end of this wonderful book.

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