The Witches

 The Witches, by Roald Dahl, 224 pages

I am continuing to read Roald Dahl books as my family has dictated. I remember watching this movie when I a kid and the book is pretty close to the film, except for the ending. I'm noticing a running theme in a lot of Dahl's work: orphaned children and awful parents. There is definitely a grown-ups versus adults feel to a lot of them, which I think is one of the reasons whey they remain so popular with kids. I wonder if he lost his parents when he was young. They also make great intros to children's fantasy, since there's some magic and whimsy in each of them. I do remember the movie being at the end of the era of 80's kids movies that were also kind of scary. But the book also scared me! Some of Blake's illustrations are a little hideous, but they do the job. But this might one of my favorites so far. Kids being turned into something even smaller but still winning the day--you gotta love it. Great book to read around the Halloween season. Next up: James and the Giant Peach. Recommended for kids and adults. 

Matilda

 

Matilda by Roald Dahl, 240 pgs.

What a fun book. My daughter started reading this one night, finished it in a day, and declared it as her favorite book of all time. I've seen most of the early movie versions of of Dahl's books but I'm just starting to read them now and really wished I'd experienced them as a kid. Matilda is one of those kids who is born to neglectful, awful parents and who don't encourage her natural abilities so she develops them herself. I love that this is basically a kid experience some massive trauma and ends up developing a superpower as a result to counteract all the bad people in her life. Books that feature kids who develop a power over grown-ups is always a good read, it's nice to see mean adults get their comeuppance at the hands of someone so small. Kids and adults. 

Fantastic Mr. Fox

 Fantastic Mr. Fox, by Roald Dahl, 81 pgs                                                                                                                                                  

My daughter is reading Roald Dahl books and is loving them so much that she's demanding that I read them too. So here we are! I brought Matilda home for her to read and she loved it so much, she said it was one of the best books she's ever read. I miss reading the illustrated kids books now, since she's getting older but I'm learning to love some of the chapter books she's reading. 

    I've never actually read any of Dahl's books but this was a great one to start with. Mr. Fox outwits three mean, ugly farmers and saves not only his wife and family but the families of other animals living underground in the hill. I loved that he gets his tail shot off--so violent. They don't put violence in kids stories like they used to. Just when you think the three mean farmers will capture Mr. Fox, he comes up with an even better plan to rob the farmers of all of their supplies. This is an easy read and the illustrations by Quentin Blake are fun and whimsical. 

The Irregulars

The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington by Jennet Conant 416 pp.

Before the U.S. entered World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was doing his best to convince President Franklin Roosevelt to join the cause against Hitler. Part of Churchill's efforts included establishing the top secret organization called British Security Coordination, a branch of the SIS/MI6. These were spies tasked with finding German spies in the U.S. and countering the influence of the anti-war "America First Committee". The fact that one of our closest allies used such a spy network is somewhat disturbing. One of the early recruits was Roald Dahl, a pilot who had suffered career ending injuries in a crash. One of Dahl's main tasks was to infiltrate the social lives of the movers and shakers in Washington, D.C. where he became a popular guest at parties, people's homes, and even the White House. Dahl, in his pre-James and the Giant Peach days, along with others in the BSC spread fake news, passed rumors through whispering campaigns, forged documents, and used every method available to vilify Nazi Germany. Dahl accomplished most of his work through wining, dining, and illicit romances with notable women, including Claire Boothe Luce, powerful Congresswoman and wife of Henry Luce, the publisher of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated magazines. Author Ian Fleming, also a BSC agent, later used some of these exploits as a basis for his character James Bond's way with the ladies. The last chapter of the book continues Dahl's biography through his fame as an author of popular children's books and his marriages to actress Patricia Neal and Felicity Crosland. I listened to the audiobook version because, to be honest, I probably would not have finished it otherwise.