Roald Dahl is the author of many fictional books for children. Most of his books were illustrated by Quentin Blake. I have always enjoyed these books as well as the illustrations. Dahl uses very inventive language, including interesting words such as “gnazzle,” “knid” and “snozzcumber.” His books are very funny and full of entertaining nonsense.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is about a boy named Charlie who lives in a small home with his poor family. Willy Wonka, the owner of a famous chocolate factory, announces that five lucky children will be invited to tour his factory. The children would be selected by finding one of five golden tickets hidden inside the wrappers of chocolate bars. By sheer luck, Charlie receives one of the five golden tickets. As the story unfolds, we discover the wild and zany rooms in Willy Wonka’s factory, and finally we learn the real reason why Mr. Wonka invited the children to his factory.
The BFG tells of a little girl named Sophie who lives in an orphanage. Sophie is captured by a twenty-four-feet-tall giant, who takes her to a cave in a faraway land called “Giant Country.” There she learns that the giant’s name is the “Big Friendly Giant,” or the “BFG,” for short. The BFG is actually the runt of nine other giants, who are about fifty feet tall and are very wicked, unlike the BFG. The other nine giants like to gallop off to different countries to gobble up about two to six people at a time. Sophie and the BFG come up with a plan to put a stop to the other giants’ evil deeds.
In Matilda, a girl named Matilda learns how to read at a very young age, but her parents mistreat her and hardly even notice her talents. When she starts school, Matilda encounters the giant, nasty headmistress named Miss Trunchbull. The headmistress terrorizes the entire school until Matilda discovers special powers within herself. This is my favorite of Roald Dahl’s books because of the charming characters and wonderful story.
Most of Roald Dahl’s books are about ordinary children who discover extraordinary things. Dahl usually includes fantastical characters, such as man-sized insects and little people known as “Oompa Loompas.” It is for good reason that his books are very popular and are considered classics for young readers. I highly recommend these books to people of all ages.
-Oliver H.
The works of Roald Dahl are available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. They can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive.
Redwall is a series of 22 fantasy novels written by the late Brian Jacques. The stories take place around a castle named Redwall Abbey in a land called Mossflower during a medieval period. The main characters are animals with human-like abilities. Most of the characters are woodland creatures that can talk and walk on their hind legs. The good characters include mice, squirrels, otters, moles, and badgers. The villains include rats, weasels, stoats, foxes and ferrets. The books contain many epic adventures and are very enjoyable to read.
Beverly Cleary is one of my favorite authors. She has written many short fiction books, most of which are set in an American town during the middle of the twentieth century. Her works include Henry Huggins, Beezus and Ramona, and Otis Spofford. Her books are among my favorites because they are easy to read and they contain many amusing stories.
Mission Viejo Library Teen Voice 