Book #60: “The BFG” by Roald Dahl

 

The BFG

Roald Dahl

 Released: January 14th, 1982

My 3rd book for 2025 was Roald Dahl's “The BFG”.

Alrighty!  60th book reviewed! (And yes, for those counting, I know not all of them have been released yet).  #AchievementUnlocked.  Does anyone even hashtag things anymore?  I still do it in everyday conversation, and the younger generations look at me funny.  30's are a tough decade of life.  Oh well.

My friend Johanna sent me this one for Christmas.  I decided to read it, review it and give them a big shout-out.  Thank you!

I finished "Junior" in the Carlisle Starbucks and immediately jumped right into this one.  

It's funny, there's several Starbucks around, but the only sit-down one is a small shop over on the other side of Target.  There's plenty in the Targets and Giants, but it's branded differently.  It's the stores "featuring" Starbucks products.  I ended up going to this one because I miss my PNW vibe of going to a coffee shop, getting a Venti Latte, and sitting down to read and just embrace the atmosphere.  It's a real-life version of those 3+ hour jazz channels on YouTube. 

I kept glancing around.  There's a certain social stigma about being a 36-year-old man reading a children's book in a coffee shop.  Then again, after seeing the internet, it's not so strange anymore.  And I know damn well that I'd read my Clue books in public given the chance.  There's a theme of old age here.  If I seem grouchy, I turned 36 on January 6th.  Don't ever get old.  It's a trap.  Stay young forever.  Got it Peter Pan?  There's also hyperlinks galore.  Shameless plugging.

Anyway, enough ADHD, back on track.  It's a pretty good kid's book.  Lots of allegory and learning about differences between "giant" culture and human culture.  There's even a funny reference to Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk.

Essentially this girl Sophie is taken from her orphanage in England to the Land of Giants.  She meets the BFG, (Big Friendly Giant).  BFG is not the most educated being and uses made-up words to describe common items used by humans.  They talk about foods they dislike, people, places, different things.  They create a plan to convince the Queen to help them round up all the evil giants.  Sophie takes a liking to the BFG and educates him.  It is implied that he wrote the story.

It's a good read.  Kids learning to read chapter books would really enjoy it.

Here is what I learned:

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• BFG stands for “Big Friendly Giant”.
  
  
• The book is dedicated to Olivia Dahl, Roald's late daughter.  She passed away at the age of 7 from encephalitis caused by measles.

• The witching hour is a special moment in the middle of the night while everyone is deep asleep when all dark things come out from hiding and reveal themselves to the world.

• Sophie lives in a dormitory.

• She wears steel rimmed glasses with thick lenses.

• The Goocheys run a greengrocer’s shop in the middle of High Street.

• The Giant carries a trumpet in a suitcase that can shoot dreams at humans.

• The Giant’s arm is as thick as a tree trunk.

• The Giant says human “beans” taste different based on nationality.

• Bonecruncher enjoys eating Turks as they taste like Turkey.

• Greeks taste too greasy.

• Panamanians taste like hats.

• Humans from Jersey taste like cardigans.

• Danish people taste like dogs.

• Nine giants exist in the world.

• It takes 6 Japanese people to fill a giant due to being too small.

• 2-3 Norwegians or Yankee-Doodles are enough to fill a giant.

• Giants eat eskimos for dessert.

• According to the giant, flowers feel pain and scream as their stems are broken while being picked.

• BFG catches dreams with a big net he calls his “dream-catcher”.

• Giants are uneducated.

• They are orphans.

• Giants are immortal.

• The girl telling the giant he speaks beautifully is the best present he ever received.

• The BFG’s table is 12 feet high.

• The Bloodbottler compares Chilean people to Eskimos.

• Carbonation fizzes downward in the land of the giants.

• Giants find burping filthy.

• A fart is a “whizzpopper”.

• The power of a giant’s whizzpopper is enough to knock them off their feet.

• Giants have 3 words for nightmare: "trogglehumper", "bogthumper", and "grobswitcher".
  
  
• 10% of royalties from sale of the book are donated to Roald Dahl charities.

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Overall, not a bad book.  A bit out of my age range, but for kids, it is an entertaining story.

Recommended only for kids who have advanced to chapter books, or fans of Roald Dahl.

On to Book #61: "Who Wants To Be Me?" by Regis Philbin.