Customer Reviews
A great book! 
2008-10-21
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl is about Charlie, a generous boy whose family is very poor. Charlie hopes to win admission to Wonka's fabulous chocolate factory which is finally open for five people. I enjoy how Road Dahl describes imaginary characters and the interesting machines in the factory. At the factory, Charlie meets four other children who all have one thing in common: they all represent naughty children in one way or another. The other children can be described as sassy or obsessed or bulging or lazy. They are all extremely unhelpful, and they expect other people to do all the work for them. Charlie is different. He is helpful, and he works hard to make his family happy. I think that there should be scene that shows Charlie making a good choice in the factory instead of just standing there watching the other kids make bad choices. I think that the book is good for readers in second to seventh grades because it is a complicated story with exciting and unpredictable characters. I liked Charlie and the Chocolate Factory so much that I chose to read the sequel!
A wonderful book 2008-10-21
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl is about Charlie, a generous boy whose family is very poor. Charlie hopes to win admission to Wonka's fabulous chocolate factory which is finally open to five people. I enjoy how Roald Dahl describes imaginary characters and the interesting machines in the factory. At the factory, Charlie meets four other children who have one thing in common: they all represent naughty children in one way or another. The other children can be described as sassy or obsessed or bulging or lazy. They are all extremely unhelpful, and they expect other people to do all the work for them. Charlie is different. He is helpful, and he works hard to make his family happy. I think that there should be a scene that shows Charlie making a good choice in the factory instead of just standing there watching other kids make bad choices. I think that the book is good for readers in second to seventh grades because it is a complicated story with exciting and unpredictable characters. I liked Charlie and the Chocolate Factory so much that I chose to read the sequel!
From man that doesn't like children 
2008-10-04
Dahl is a misogynistic creep who was probably abused as a child. Hurting children is NOT funny.
Roald Dahl, and most British childrens' book authors, love to write stories about tormented, punished, starving, suffering children. I don't think British people like children, period. Just read David Copperfield or Oliver Twist by Dickens, any Harry Potter book, Alice in Wonderland among others. British children freeze and are chronically abused until they one day discover a "magical world" where it's warm, they get food and someone cares about them. Even many of Monty Python's movies hint at the same child-UNfriendly environment in the UK.
Simply scrumdiddlyumptious! 
2008-09-30
This is my first Roald Dahl book and I must say I love it! Highly imaginative and full of lessons, this book is a gem. I like the little boy Charlie very much and like most children, he is full of curiosity. He is also obedient for he listens to his parents, Mr and Mrs Bucket, and his very old grandparents. His family is poor and the seven of them live in a tiny, worn-down house. It is heartbreaking reading his family situation.
One day, Mr Willy Wonka, a well-known chocolate maker who was missing in action for a long, long time comes back into business. As we know, Mr Wonka makes all sorts of wonderful, out-of-this-world, magical sweets. His chocolate-making secrets, having been copied before by other manufacturers (that's the reason he closed down and went `missing') he now protects them by hiring a mysterious workforce when he reopens. The workers are never seen to enter or exit from his factory--very strange. The action starts when Mr Wonka launches a competition with an irresistible prize: a visit IN the factory for five children! These children will be able to see how his secret chocolates are made and their adult guardians can come with them. To win, each of them must possess the golden ticket only found in Wonka chocolates! The world, of course, launches into a chocolate-buying frenzy. But Charlie, a chocolate lover, is so poor and could not even afford a decent meal, how could he afford to buy enough chocolates to get a chance to win one of the five golden tickets?
The story gets even better when the five winners--all from different backgrounds and attitudes--get their tour in the factory. Four of them are spoilt brats in their unique ways, and the fifth one is Charlie (of course he got in)! What an experience each of these children and their parents (except Charlie for he brought his grandfather) go through! From the way Mr Wonka talks (as evident in the writing), he is an enthusiastic person. There are lots of exclamation marks punctuating his sentences and italics to emphasis his points. Besides all the intriguing stuff, the children also discover who the workers are. It is interesting to see how the children's mischief gets them into trouble in the factory.
I love how Roald Dahl weaves the magical story so wonderfully and it was funny reading about the four obnoxious children. More interesting is how each `weird' incidence that happens during the tour is in direct relation to their naughtiness. Watch out for the twist towards the ending, too, because there is more to things than just the factory tour. This is an amazing tale.
wonderful 2008-08-30
it was my favorate book and i love it so much im reading the secquel i cant say much more because it was so good please read it. it will definitly satisfy your craving for chocolate.
Charming, funny, happy 2008-08-25
The gates of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory are opening at last . . . and only five children will be allowed inside.
just right 2008-08-13
it was just as advertised, in good shape and I was interested to read
the original. There are some interesting differences from the original
story and the original movie...
Cuter then the movie 2008-07-03
Thats basically all I have to say, it's cuter then the movie. It's more meaning ful then the movie and i enjoyed reading it with my class! (Along time ago but I still remeber it!)
Classic! 2008-05-18
This is truly one of Roald Dahl's best and is pretty much one of the best tributes to childhood he has written. Heck, it's about a whimsical candy shop and it's pure Dahlian. I still melt every time I hear about the mysterious factory and its master. I don't even mind the not-so-sublte morals (though the book does not have them as blatant as the Gene Wilder movie version). It's creative, understatedly intense while drumming up the quirkiness of the factory and the characters, and is wonderfully British. A true children's classic.
One of my favorite classics! 2008-04-26
Roald Dahl was immensely creative, as you can see in this book. If you have watched the movie and have not read the book, you have only experienced a sliver of Roald Dahl's imagination. The book is very much like both of the movies, but his descriptions and details in the book are magical. I would recommend this book to anyone, and it is, as it says in the title, one of my favorite books. If you like this book, I would recommend the sequel to this book, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, which is a worthy sequel to this classic.
