Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1)
by Roald Dahl
Published by Puffin
Publication Date June 1st 1998
Source: Library
Genres: Young Adult
Goodreads

Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory is opening at last!

But only five lucky children will be allowed inside. And the winners are: Augustus Gloop, an enormously fat boy whose hobby is eating; Veruca Salt, a spoiled-rotten brat whose parents are wrapped around her little finger; Violet Beauregarde, a dim-witted gum-chewer with the fastest jaws around; Mike Teavee, a toy pistol-toting gangster-in-training who is obsessed with television; and Charlie Bucket, Our Hero, a boy who is honest and kind, brave and true, and good and ready for the wildest time of his life!

Roald Dahl was a go-to author for me growing up. I loved the magical worlds he built, the palaces made of chocolate, trained squirrels and gobstoppers create a unique story that is absolutely scrumptious.

The characters Roald Dahl draws in his books bounce off the wall Monty Python style. Willy Wonka was crazy like a fox and not only would think wood, ducks and churches would sink but could find a way to achieve the impossible. Out of the children, Veruca Salt was my favorite, yes theoretically it should be Charlie Bucket but there is just something about dear Veruca and her incessant “Daddy I want…” that reels me in and keeps me entertained.

Granted, the story itself is all unbelievable (I mean seriously, who builds a palace out of chocolate?) but in the entire book, I found Grandpa Joe the least engaging and found it hard to take that he would stay in bed for years but suddenly pop out from under the sheets over a bar of chocolate? Puh-lease!

However, as a whole Roald Dahl created an imaginative world where I could taste snozzberries, hear the gates to Wonka’s factory creak close and form a smile over the Oompa Loompa’s dietary needs of cacao beans and their biting songs. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a childhood classic when I read it 20 years ago and after this nostalgic reread feel that it remains so.