| "CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY"
Author: Roald Dahl
Illustrations: Quentin Blake
Interest Level: Middle Grades (4-8)
ATOS Reading Level: 4.8
AR Points: 5.0
Publisher Recommended Age: 7+
Publisher: Penguin/Puffin
Book Type: Paperback
Pages: 176
Book Description:
Each of five children lucky enough to discover an entry ticket into Mr. Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory takes advantage of the situation in his own way.
Book Group Guide:
Book Awards:
- Australia: BILBY Read Aloud 1992
- USA: New England Round Table of Children's Librarians Award 1972
- UK: Surrey School Award 1973
- UK: Millennium Children's Book Award 2000
- UK: Blue Peter Book Award 2000
About the Author:
Roald Dahl is one of the most successful and well-known of all children's writers. His books, which are read by children the world over, include James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches and Matilda.
Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales in 1916, to Norwegian parents, Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene Dahl (née Hesselberg). Dahl's family had moved from Norway and settled in Cardiff in the 1880s. Roald was named after the polar explorer Roald Amundsen, a national hero in Norway at the time. He spoke Norwegian at home with his parents and sisters. Dahl and his sisters were christened at the Norwegian Church, Cardiff, where their parents worshipped.
In 1920, when Roald was four, his seven-year-old sister, Astri, died from appendicitis. About a month later, his father died of pneumonia at the age of 57, following grief from his daughter's death. Dahl's mother, however, decided not to return to Norway to live with her relatives, but to remain in Wales since it had been her husband's wish to have their children educated in British schools.
Roald Dahl died in November 1990 at the age of 74 of a rare blood disease, myelodysplastic anaemia (sometimes called "pre-leukemia"), at his home, Gipsy House in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, and was buried in the cemetery at the parish church of Saints Peter and Paul. According to his granddaughter, the family gave him a "sort of Viking funeral". He was buried with his snooker cues, some very good burgundy, chocolates, HB pencils and a power saw. In his honour, the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery was opened at Buckinghamshire County Museum in nearby Aylesbury.
In 2002, one of Cardiff's modern landmarks, the historic Oval Basin plaza, was re-christened "Roald Dahl Plass". "Plass" means plaza in Norwegian, a nod to the acclaimed late writer's Norwegian roots. There have also been calls from the public for a permanent statue of him to be erected in the city.
Dahl's charitable commitments in the fields of neurology, haematology and literacy have been continued by his widow since his death, through the Roald Dahl Foundation. In June 2005, the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre opened in Great Missenden to celebrate the work of Roald Dahl and advance his work in literacy.
In 2008, the U.K. charity Booktrust and Children's Laureate Michael Rosen inaugurated The Roald Dahl Funny Prize, an annual award to authors of humorous children's fiction.
The anniversary of Dahl's birthday on 13 September has recently become widely celebrated as Roald Dahl Day.
Other Interesting Information:
The book was first made into a feaure film in 1971, and was a musical starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, Jack Albertson as Grandpa Joe, and PeterOstrum as Charlie Bucket. The movie was considered a box office flop and Roald Dahl was so dissatsified with the movie that he refused to watch it in its entirety.
A more recent film version was released in 2005, starring Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka and Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket. This film was considered a hit, and growwed US$470M worldwide. |
