“We bought this book.
Did you think Charlie's adventures ended when he won the chocolate factory? As it turns out Charlie's day didn't even end there. Once in the Great Glass Elevator Charlie (and all the Buckets) found themselves on a wild journey to some really strange places. Really strange. In one of Dahl's wildest stories childrens' classic hero Charlie finds himself orbiting Earth, fighting aliens, traveling to unreal places like Minusland and most off all, trying to convince his grandparents to get out of the bed they've been in for the last twenty years.
Dahl is famous for his dark, wry view of just about everything. In The Witches he took on women, in Charlie in the Chocolate Factory he took on bratty kids, in Matilda he took on the education system. In this one he takes on really lazy adults. Surely by this point readers should know Dahl was an equal opportunity -ist (or at least played one for effect through his fiction) but he was also a fantastic storyteller, slyly infusing his tales with enough dark humor and irony to make even young readers feel like they're in on Dahl's cosmic joke.
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator is quite nonlinear, so it threw my more literally minded autistic son, but my daughter found the wild and crazy wild enjoyable. She especially enjoyed the space bits, which were almost science fiction-y enough for her.
As always, especially with Dahl's wilder works, it's an acquired taste, not for all readers. But avid readers will want to taste Dahl's clever, intelligent story telling which, unlike many kids books (especially those tied in with movies, TV shows or licensed characters) doesn't treat young readers like thick-headed dummies who need moral messages drilled into their heads.
Contains: Bad science, mean old people
Recommended for: 8-12 yrs, flexible”
MicheleLee wrote this review Sunday, January 23, 2011.
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