BFG

We have thoroughly enjoyed the most recent Roald Dahl book we read: BFG.  I have heard of it, but never read it.  I am so glad we read this; the children loved it.

This book scared me at first because in the first chapter a giant kidnaps a child during the night and carries her off into his cave.  I do not have the time to pre-read the chapter books we read and many of these I have not read before and do not know the story.  So, I wondered while we read this if this would be a scary story about monsters, causing the girls nightmares.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  The story quickly turned to funny and lighthearted.  The plot line is silly and the girls actually laughed out loud during some parts.  Like all of the other Dahl books we have read, there is quite a lot of action in this book.  The plot has lots of twists and turns and is not at all predictable.

The BFG (Big Friendly Giant) had no parents and did not go to school. So, his grammar skills and vocabulary are poor.  His subject-verb agreement is frequently incorrect and he simply makes up words when he doesn't know what something is called.  The made-up words were funny.  He will say things like "I is whizzpopping my flubergusther over there."

The girls loved his made-up words.  Sabrina started to make up words all the time, asking for casssabellaterrish for dinner, for example.  I was pleased that Catherine's grammar is good enough that she noticed the BFG's errors.  She kept correcting them for me. 

Some of the scenes were hysterical.  The girls constantly try to fold their ears down to give their little princess figurines rides like the BFG does for Sophie (the little orphan girl).  The girls actually asked me to re-read the chapter describing some of the dreams the BFG keeps in the glass jars.  Sabrina sometimes looks out the window at night to see if a giant carrying a long trumpet is walking down the street.

The only criticism I have of the book is that it was a bit long.  Some kids may have trouble sustaining their interest for a long enough time to get through the whole book.  But if they can, it is worth it.