Children's Book Review

Here's a photo of my in my pj's on Christmas morning 2 years ago, extremely excited about the gift James and little Maggie had given me:

(yes, I made it small for a reason).

Here's a closer look at what I was holding:

If you're a fan of children's books, I'm preaching to the choir, because these are some of the greatest (and most celebrated) children's books in history, and you've probably noticed.  Roald Dahl, was an incredible story teller.  

If you've read these, and not some of his lesser-published books of poems like 'Revolting Rhymes', 'Dirty Beasts' and the Vicar of Nibbleswicke, read those ones - they're awesome :)  

When I was teaching, my grade 6 boys LOVED The Twits - boys and girls all love them :)  And we used his poetry books when we were studying poetry, which was a lot of fun :)

Here are some quotes from Roald Dahl, some from books, some from himself.  Recognise any?? :)

“If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until you can hardly bear to look at it.
A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts it will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.” 

“Don't gobblefunk around with words.” 

“It doesn't matter who you are or what you look like, so long as somebody loves you.” 

“A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.” 

“Do you know what breakfast cereal is made of? It's made of all those little curly wooden shavings you find in pencil sharpeners!” 

“I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldn't be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage.” 

“Two rights don't equal a left.” 

“We have so much time and so little to do. Strike that, reverse it.” 

“A little magic can take you a long way.” 

“I understand what you're saying, and your comments are valuable, but I'm gonna ignore your advice.” 

“Grown ups are complicated creatures, full of quirks and secrets.” 

“I've heard tell that what you imagine sometimes comes true.

“It's a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful.” 

“Here it is,' Nigel said.
Mrs D, Mrs I, Mrs FFI, Mrs C, Mrs U, Mrs LTY. That spells difficulty.'
How perfectly ridiculous!' snorted Miss Trunchbull. 'Why are all these women married?” 

“So Matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone.” 

“Mr. Twit was a twit. He was born a twit. And, now at the age of sixty, he was a bigger twit than ever.” 

“You should never, never doubt something that no one is sure of.” 

“The books transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives. She went on olden-day sailing ships with Joseph Conrad. She went to Africa with Ernest Hemingway and to India with Rudyard Kipling. She travelled all over the world while sitting in her little room in an English village.” 

“She might even be your lovely school-teacher who is reading these words to you at this very moment. Look carefully at that teacher. Perhaps she is smiling at the absurdity of such a suggestion. Don't let that put you off. It could be part of cleverness.
I am not, of course, telling you for one second that your teacher actually is a witch. All I am saying is that she might be one. It is most unlikely. But--here comes the big "but"--not impossible.”

“We all have our moments of brilliance and glory, and this was mine.” 

“Nowadays you can go anywhere in the world in a few hours, and nothing is fabulous any more.” 

“All you do is to look
At a page in this book
Because that's where we always will be.
No book ever ends
When it's full of your friends” 

As with Aaron Blabley, who I wrote about a few weeks ago here, there is an awesome Roald Dahl website set up which you can find here, and here's a screenshot of his title page:

Wasn't Quentin Blake a perfect match for Roald Dahl's stories??!!!  

“So, please, oh please, we beg, we pray, go throw your TV set away, and in its place you can install, a lovely bookcase on the wall.” 

Go and read a book :) - have a splendiferous day!!! :)

PS:  Has anyone read any of Roald Dahl's books for adults??