This year Penguin Young Readers and the Roald Dahl Literary Estate are
celebrating 100 years since the birth of
Roald Dahl —the world’s number one storyteller.
In honor of Roald Dahl’s 100th birthday this year on September 13, Penguin Young Readers has published new collectible hardcovers editions of some of Roald Dahl’s beloved stories, which were released on September 6, 2016, including Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and James and the Giant Peach! Penguin Young Readers has also released brand new covers of all of Roald Dahl’s works in paperback.
If you’ve been thinking about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a lot since the passing of Gene Wilder, you owe it to yourself to become familiar with the rest of Dahl’s wonderful body of work. I have the privilege of giving you a look at George’s Marvelous Medicine, a short chapter book suitable for ages 7 and up. I am excited to be offered this opportunity from the fine folks at Penguin Young Readers/Puffin!
Book Review: George’s Marvelous Medicine
I have read some of Dahl’s other works, and of course seen some of the movie adaptations but I had never read this book before. It was not a big surprise that this book had a little bit of a dark side to it – if you think that George is going to take things lying down, you don’t know Dahl!
George suffers from, well, an insufferable Grandma, who happens to live with him, making her that much more unbearable. She is nasty, rude and demanding, a combination that George finds hard to take. And then one morning, he starts to think that there may be more sinister factors at play, when he suddenly hears her speak in a voice that he had never heard before. Could she really be… a witch? She certainly looks like one.
George decides to take matters into his own hands. Now, he is a dutiful son, at the very least, and he has been instructed to give Grandma her medication at a specific time. So he just decides to, um, doctor it up a little.
The ensuing chaos and unexpected consequences give George and his family a day they will not soon forget. And as for Grandma? Well, she’s probably okay. Maybe. And George? He is that much more certain of the existence of a certain kind of magic in the world.
This is classic Dahl. Singular child faced with a very unusual situation. Things blow out of proportion – literally. And there is no lesson, no moral here. The child is not punished in the end. The bad behavior of the adult is not redeemed. There is no such thing as political correctness (I even checked the publication date, and nope, it was not published before that term came into general use).
My advice to parents is that if you have a particularly suggestible child, perhaps you should wait to read this to them. But if you have a precocious, rambunctious child who delights in the absurd, this would be just the ticket. Just don’t let them go anywhere near the medicine cabinet. Or the bathroom in general. Or the laundry room. Or the barn. Or… well, you’ll see.
Dahl gives us delightful imagery that has always helped to translate his stories into movies well. If the idea of Grandma’s mouth puckering up like the behind of a dog does not appeal to you, well, you can get over it. The many ramifications of George’s medicine and the permutations of Grandma and assorted barnyard animals are rendered in lively language that would make this fun to read aloud.
Do keep an eye on the kids, though, won’t you?
If you’d like to read an excerpt of George’s Marvelous Medicine, check out Novel Novice’s blog for the first chapter and a bit about how this book shaped her reading life. Also check out some of the other tour stops for more excerpts, features and reviews!
For more information on the tour and the author, check below. I am so excited to be a part of this international, year-long celebration of one of the world’s most beloved authors!
Giveaway! (oh, isn’t this exciting?)
Penguin Young Readers/Puffin is holding a giveaway of the whole newly-designed paperback collection of fifteen titles with new covers and a special edition Roald Dahl tote bag to hold them in! One lucky winner will be chosen by the publisher from Rafflecopter entrants at the end of September or early October (date to be determined).
This giveaway is being offered and run by Penguin Young Readers/Puffin. Go ahead and enter and then tell me in the comments what your favorite Roald Dahl book is! And if you enter and tweet about the Giveaway, don’t forget to use the hashtag #RoaldDahl100 – and tag me at @LindaWonder!
Titles included in this special giveaway include the following:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Boy: Tales of Childhood
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Danny the Champion of the World
Esio Trot
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Matilda
The BFG (now a major motion picture)
The Witches
James and the Giant Peach
The Twits
George’s Marvelous Medicine
The Magic Finger
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
Going Solo
“If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.” – Fantastic Mr. Fox
About the Author
Roald Dahl (1916-1990) was born in Wales of Norwegian parents. In 1951, Roald Dahl met his future wife, the American actress Patricia Neal, who starred in films including The Day the Earth Stood Still, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Hud, for which she won an Oscar. After establishing himself as a writer for adults, Roald Dahl began writing children’s stories in 1960 and wrote two of his best-known novels, James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in the U.S.
In September 1964, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was published initially in the U.S. with the U.K. following a few years later. It would go on to become one of the most famous and best-known of Roald’s stories. The idea for the story grew out of his own well-documented love of chocolate and his school-day memories of acting as a taster for a famous chocolate factory. These first stories were written as entertainment for his own children, to whom many of his books are dedicated.
Today, Roald Dahl’s stories are available in 58 languages and have sold more than 200 million books. With more than 40 million Roald Dahl books in print in the U.S. alone, Dahl is considered one of the most beloved storytellers of our time and his popularity continues to increase as his fantastic novels, including James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, The BFG, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, delight an ever-growing legion of fans.
For more information please visit the author’s website at roalddahl.com/usa .
About the Blog Tour
Visit any of these blogs for more fun information and another chance at the giveaway! Wherever possible I have linked to the Blog Tour post.
September 5 – Peace Loves Books – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Excerpt
September 5 – The Compulsive Reader – Danny, The Champion of the World Review
September 5 – The Starry Eyed Revue – James and The Giant Peach Review
September 6 – Ex Libris Kate – The Witches Review
September 6 – Cracking the Cover – The Magic Finger Feature – Short Review and History
September 6 – Lost In Lit – The Witches Feature – Revisiting The Witches as an adult
September 7 – Cozy Reading Corner – Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator Excerpt
September 7 – The Plot Bunny – The Magic Finger Review
September 7 – Lilli’s Reflections – The Twits Excerpt
September 8 – The Irish Banana – Matilda Review
September 8 – Ticket To Anywhere – Danny, The Champion of the World Excerpt
September 8 – Cuddlebuggery – Quentin Blake’s Illustrations of Roald Dahl’s Books Feature
September 8 – Beth Fish Reads – Going Solo Review
September 9 – Ravenous Reader – The BFG Excerpt
September 9 – Paper Cuts – The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me Excerpt
September 9 – The Lovely Books – The Witches Excerpt
September 9 – A Glass of Wine – James and the Giant Peach Excerpt
September 10 – Novel Novice – George’s Marvelous Medicine Excerpt
September 10 – YA Bibliophile – Fantastic Mr. Fox Review
September 10 – Watercolor Moods – The Magic Finger Feature – Collage
September 11- Jessabella Reads – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Review
September 11- Who R U Blog – Charlie and the Glass Elevator Feature – Trivia
September 12 – Belle of the Library – The Twits Review
September 12 – BookManiaLife – George’s Marvelous Medicine Review
September 12 – The Book Swarm – Danny, The Champion of the World Excerpt
September 12 – Book Belles – James and the Giant Peach Feature – Book to Movie
September 12 – Alexa Loves Books – Matilda Feature – Style Files
September 13 – Roald’s birthday! – Brittany’s Book Rambles – Matilda Excerpt
September 13 – Roald’s birthday! – Mundie Kids – The BFG Review
September 13 – Roald’s birthday! – Read Now Sleep Later – Boy Excerpt
September 13 – Roald’s birthday – Consumed By Books – Matilda Excerpt
September 13 – Roald’s birthday – I Am A Reader – James and the Giant Peach Excerpt
September 13 – The Novel Life – Lessons that Roald Dahl has taught me feature
September 13 – The Book Rat – Esio Trot Excerpt
September 14 – Belle’s Bash – The BFG Excerpt
September 14 – WinterHaven Books – Esio Trot Excerpt
September 14 – A Book and A Latte – The Magic Finger Excerpt
September 14 – Hello Chelly – Matilda Feature – BookBags
September 14 – Loving Dem Books – Youtube Feature
September 15 – Writing My Own Fairy-Tale – George’s Marvelous Medicine Review
September 15 – The Book Bandit – The Giraffe, and the Pelly and Me Review
September 15 – Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile – Esio Trot Review
September 15 – Coffee, Books and Me – Top Ten Reasons You Should Read Roald Dahl’s Books
September 16 – Undeniably Book Nerdy – Boy Review
September 16 – Supernatural Snark – James and the Giant Peach Review
September 16 – My Friend Amy – Going Solo Excerpt
September 16 – The Quiet Concert – Danny, the Champion of the World Review
September 17 – Book Briefs – Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
September 17 – Andi’s ABCs – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Feature – ABCs
September 17 – Just Another Rabid Reader – The Magic Finger Review
September 17 – Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia – Roald Dahl Feature – Food Feature
September 18 – Bumbles and Fairy-Tales – Matilda Feature – Reading With Dad
September 18 – Addicted 2 Novels – Esio Trot Review
September 18 – Pure Imagination – Fantastic Mr. Fox Excerpt
September 18 – Green Bean Teen Queen – What Roald Dahl Means To Me Feature
September 19 – Bookiemoji – The Witches Excerpt
September 19 – Shooting Stars Blog – Roald Dahl Feature – Etsy Products
September 19 – Nightly Reading – Matilda Review
Recent Comments