watac's Full Review: Roald Dahl - George's Marvelous Medicine
George's grandmother is a disgusting, cruel slug of a person. One day, good-natured, young George decides to kill her. This sounds outragious, of course, but for Roald Dahl it's pretty typical.
Looking back, I'm surprised my parents bought this book for me when I was 8. I loved it, though -- I read almost all of Roald Dahl's children's books. They are all excellent. There is always a dark side to his novels, though, so some parents might be concerned about that.
This cleverly illustrated book follows George as he concocts a potion that he will give to his grandmother (instead of her medicine), with the intent of killing her. He mixes up everything in the house and gives it to his bitter grandmother.
Surprisingly, instead of killing her, George's "medicine" makes her grow until she is taller than the house. George's father, a farmer, wants to use the medicine to make their livestock larger, so George tries to make another batch, but he can't get all the ingredients right. Consequently, George's various batches of medicine do bizarre things to the livestock.
That's pretty much the story. As I said, I loved it as a kid. I got together with a friend, and we tried to make a mixture like that. We were using lots of flammable liquids until my mom found out and made us stop.
So, to be safe, you should watch your children closely for a while after they read this book.
If you like this book, I think you'll enjoy any of Roald Dahl's books. Here are some of my favorites:
1. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (made into a movie: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)
2. Matilda (made into a movie of the same name)
3. The Witches (made into a movie of the same name)
4. The BFG
George is alone in the house with his horrid, grizzly old grunion of a grandma. She needs something stronger than her usual medicine to cure her chron...More at Buy.com
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