Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Book Review Apr 16, 2023

My review

4/5 stars

I've read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a couple of times in my lifetime. It's always fun but it's never been top of my list of Roald Dahl books that I love to read (that's Matilda and the Magic Finger). My son, on the other hand, has discovered a fascination with Willy Wonka because I picked up a costume in a supermarket sale for him, so that's the one he wanted to read first.

The book was just as fun as I remembered, and it was lovely to see all the fun parts through my young son's eyes. The made-up words were brilliant and the irony of Willy Wonka pretending to know everything but being so obviously wrong hit differently as an adult reader (though I did worry that my son would believe the mistakes rather than understanding that it was supposed to be funny).

What caught me off guard is that my son saw the story differently to any way I've ever read it. My take on it has always been that Willy Wonka was exposing the selfish and bratty behaviour of some very unsavoury children, and that is still true no matter how you read it. My son, however, was very clear on the fact that he felt that Willy Wonka was being very mean and he didn't like the tricks that he was playing on any of the children... his exact words were "I don't want to be like Willy Wonka when I grow up, he's not very nice to kids". It was fascinating to start to see Willy Wonka as a villain to some degree, and read the book through a different lens.

The life lessons to be learned are just as valid, if not more so, than they were when I was kid... too much of anything isn't good for anyone (whether it be money, TV, or food). I hope that my son was able to take something away from the book subconsciously, while he was reading all the entertaining plots and characters.

I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of the collection with him, and particularly to getting to read some of my favourites to him and see how he views them differently to me.

Book blurb

Mr Willy Wonka, the most wondrous inventor in the world, opens his gates of his amazing chocolate factory to five lucky children.Gobstoppers, wriggle sweets and a river of melted chocolate delight await - Charlie needs just one Golden Ticket and these delicious treats could all be his!