The Witches by Roald Dahl

This is the story of a little boy who lives with his grandmother. She is a fascinating woman who is great at storytelling and knows a thing or two about witches. She warns her grandson how to recognize a witch so he isn't destroyed by her since it's all witches' goal to rid the world of children and, well, he's a child. What happens when he sees someone and recognizes the signs? What if that someone is the grand witch of all the world? How does the young hero of this story react? Well, you'll have to read the book to find out.

 My 5 yo, 3 yo and I read this one together. They loved it! I read lots of reviews where they discussed how scary this would be for children. This wasn't scary at all for my kids. They loved it and couldn't wait to find out what happened next. The only thing that bothered me was the ending. The immediate story was over but it led to another story that wasn't finished. Almost like this could have been a series or something but it never was. My 5 year old was a bit upset. He wanted more. He wanted to find out what happened after The End. Overall though, it was an excellent book and the kids really enjoyed it!

Why is this book banned? Witchcraft!! There are curses put on children in the book and some felt it should be banned. I understand if you don't want your children to read it but my kids happened to LOVE it and they are 5 & 3. They thought it was pretty awesome.

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The BFG by Roald Dahl

Genre: Fiction - Children's chapter book

Review: Sophie peers out of her window one night and spots a giant at her neighbor's window. He sees her, grabs her and runs off with her into the night. Lucky for her, this giant calls himself The BFG (The Big, Friendly Giant). Together, they come up with a plan to stop the other nine giants from eating the children of the world. Will it work?

My kids adored this book!! I am quickly learning that Roald Dahl's books are just amazing. Every single one of them have been fabulous and have my kids hooked from the beginning. This was adorable. I loved how the giant spoke with all his made up words. It was just TONS of fun!! I definitely recommend this book.

Author: Roald Dahl was born in 1916 and died in 1990. He's British and it's very obvious in his writing (I love it!). He became popular in the 1940s from both his children and adult books. He is most commonly known for James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In his career he wrote over 60 short stories.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

I also found the movie on youtube but I haven't watched it yet. I'm going to watch it with my kids. It may be fabulous or it may not. I am not reviewing that... just passing on the info that I found it. :) 

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Matilda by Roald Dahl

Genre: Children/fiction/paranormal

Author: I wrote about Roald Dahl when I reviewed Witches. See comments here.

Synopsis: Matilda was born to a family who, well, was not the ideal family. They seemed to think that everything about Matilda was odd. They thought that since she was a female she shouldn't worry so much about books but focus more on looks. However, Matilda loved to learn and to read. She was placed in school with her teacher Miss Honey and Principal Trunchbull. Miss Trunchbull thought that all children were pustules that should be squished and when Miss Honey came to Miss Trunchbull saying that Matilda was bored in her class and should be moved to a higher one, the Trunchbull was sure that Matilda was a rotten child who Miss Honey just wanted to get out of her class. She soon decides that adults need to be punished as well so through some inner abilities she was unaware that she had, she pulls some practical jokes on her parents and other leaders leading to a complete turnover in her life.

Review: My children LOVED reading about Matilda. They were even more excited when we found the DVD on sale at the store so they could watch it when we were finished. I was surprised to see how accurate the movie was compared to the book. It was fun with magic and mischief that kept my kids entertained and wanting more.

Rating: By request of my children, this book gets ***** Five Stars

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The Witches by Roald Dahl

Genre: Juvenile/Paranormal

Author: Roald Dahl was born in 1916 and died in 1990. He's British and it's very obvious in his writing (I love it!). He became popular in the 1940s from both his children and adult books. He is most commonly known for James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In his career he wrote over 60 short stories.

Synopsis: This is the story of a little boy who lives with his grandmother. She is a fascinating woman who is great at storytelling and knows a thing or two about witches. She warns her grandson how to recognize a witch so he isn't destroyed by her since it's all witches' goal to rid the world of children and, well, he's a child. What happens when he sees someone and recognizes the signs? What if that someone is the grand witch of all the world? How does the young hero of this story react? Well, you'll have to read the book to find out.

Review: My 5 yo, 3 yo and I read this one together. They loved it! I read lots of reviews where they discussed how scary this would be for children. This wasn't scary at all for my kids. They loved it and couldn't wait to find out what happened next. The only thing that bothered me was the ending. The immediate story was over but it led to another story that wasn't finished. Almost like this could have been a series or something but it never was. My 5 year old was a bit upset. He wanted more. He wanted to find out what happened after The End. Overall though, it was an excellent book and the kids really enjoyed it! This is a chapter book though so if your kids won't sit and listen then I don't recommend this book for them... yet...

Rating: **** 4 Stars (Only b/c of the ending.)

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