Favourite Fiction (Roald Dahl in general)

Member Name: mdp97jes

Product:	Roald Dahl in general
Date:	14/08/02 (234 review reads)
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Advantages: loved by all

Disadvantages: none

When I was at university studying playwork, I carried out a survey of books read by children aged 7-14. The favourites by a long way were Roald Dahl books.

Although this survey was quite small (25 children) it does appear to be quite representative of children's reading habits. A 1990's survey of 4,000 children, conducted by The Library Association, Roald Dahl was the most popular author with his books taking the top five places. Roald Dahl is also in the top six authors borrowed from public libraries. "Children of all ages seem to love Roald Dahl" (Bradman 1986). This was apparent with the young children mentioning Roald Dahl as much as the older children. Some of the older girls had progressed onto teenage fiction.

"Dahl's stories seem objectionable to many adult readers, who find them a mixture of the glutinous and the cruel, but have an enormous and enthusiastic following among children themselves" (Carpenter & Pritchard 1984). The first reason that Dahl's books appeal to children is that they all involve children, (with the exception of The Twits) usually as the main character, which makes it easy to relate to. Roald Dahl's stories are interesting, move quite quickly and have a humorous content; these factors hold the interest of the child. "In any novel, it is always the story itself that must initially appeal to readers, thereby arousing curiosity about what is going to happen next that can only be satisfied by getting to the end of the book" (Tucker 1981).

Following the survey I decided to read the three favourite Roald Dahl books; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Twits and The Witches.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory centres on Charlie Buckett, a child from a very poor family who are starving. Charlie wins a ticket to visit Willy Wonka?s Chocolate factory along with four spoilt children. The other children are very greedy and naughty and all meet with accidents w
hilst touring the factory. Charlie who is well behaved through out is rewarded for his good behaviour when Willy Wonka invites Charlie and his family to live in the factory and take over the running of the factory when he becomes too old. "The book proved to be a world best seller, but has attracted averse criticism for the supposed racism in the portrayal of the Oompa Loompas [pigmy people who work in the factory] and for the depiction of Charlie?s geriatric grandparents" (Carpenter & Pritchard 1984). The story is a moral tale, where the poor child who has nothing is rewarded for his good and generous behaviour. In 1964 Enid Blyton wrote "Children's writers have definate responsibilities towards their young public. For this reason they should be certain their stories have sound morals children like them. Right should always be right, and wrong should be wrong, the hero should be rewarded and the villain punished." Children enjoy the story because it is set in a sweet factory, they can relate to the characters and it is funny.

The Twits is a book a short stories about a husband and wife who play childish tricks on each other. The couple are very ugly and are nasty to the birds and Muggle Wump monkeys. In the end the birds and the monkeys get their own back. Children find this book extremely funny and can describe the tricks blow by blow. This book is written on a child?s level, for a child?s sense of humour. Again there is a moral content. The short stories cater for the child?s attention span.

The Witches is a story about a boy who goes to live with his grandmother after the death of his parents. His grandmother tells him many tales about witches who hunt down and harm children. He actually finds himself in a conference room with all the witches in England, who give him a potion that turns him into a mouse. Eventually, with the help of his grandmother, he gets hold of some of the potion and slips it into the witches' f
ood and turns them all into mice. The mice are then all killed. This story appeals as most children enjoy stories about witches. Again it is funny to a child's sense of humour. The moral content is obvious in the fact that the boy becomes the hero and eliminates the villains.

Although Roald Dahl's books follow a similar format children never tire of them. He feeds their desire for fantasy and develops their imagination.

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