Roald Dahl: The Best Among The Best

Roald Dahl is to children's literature what war veterans like Hemingway or Vonnegut are to adult fiction. Where Roald Dahl stands out from the rest is his imaginative mind. Roald Dahl's books often take you on a trip of a lifetime and kids just adore his empathetic, yet quirky characters. Most of our readers already are Roald Dahl fans, or at least know enough about him. However, next year (2016) marks Roald Dahl's birth centenary and we thought we would make a special post that would sum up his life, times and his major works. Expanding our view a little more would help not only kids who read themselves, but parents who make reading decisions for kids as well. Here goes, then!

Who was Roald Dahl?

Roald Dahl was born in Wales. His parents were Norwegian immigrants to England and in the prime of his youth, he was thrown into the turmoil of World War II. He served in various capacities in Royal Air Force and even carried out a brief stint in the intelligence wing. Being a war veteran certainly changed his life view and Roald Dahl rose to extreme fame and fortune as a very popular children't books writer. Having received a number of accolades for his literary accomplishments, he is regarded as one of the finest storytellers of the 20th century.

Best of Roald Dahl characters and books

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Perhaps the best known of Roald Dahl's work (perhaps due to a blockbuster eponymous movie), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is an old fashioned take of adventure and curiosity. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is the most mouth watering of the fantasy tales that ask kids to hang their beliefs in suspensions and go on a merry ride with Charlie Bucket and his four lucky friends who won a big time ticket to Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory.

What follows is the ultimate showdown of chocolate-y fantasies, unique and quirky characters and a whole lot of sweet taste in your mind. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out why kids love Roald Dahl so much.

You can buy an exquisitely bound hardcover that's a perfect gift for any kid from here. Also, a great Audible recording of this sweet tale is available here, at a discounted price for our readers. What do ya wait for, then?

Matilda 

This books takes all the things that most of us (and most of the kids to come, as well) dislike about childhood, and magically turns them all into a very affectionate story.

Matilda, a normal girl with strict and boorish parents wants to go to school. She teaches herself reading and writing by looking at newspapers and magazines. Her first day at school though, isn't quite what she expected. She meets a very villainous teacher, Miss Truchbull, and it takes all the genius, intelligence and sweetness of Matilda to save her school from this obnoxious teacher.

Matilda, as many would agree, is the cutest kid ever. The story itself is a worthy read and considering that this is the last ever famous work from Roald Dahl makes it a special one.

You can buy Matilda from Amazon by following this link. An exquisite Audible recording with multiple narrators is available (with handsome discounts, as ever) here.

You can also buy the famous classic movie to go with the books from here.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Roald Dahl never quite tried to deal with too many animal stories, but Fantastic Mr. Fox is a great story of wit, wryness and redemption.

This is a story of a very cunning fox, very aptly named Fantastic Mr. Fox, who has been a little naughty and been stealing stuff from surrounding farms. What would the farmers do and with whose help? These are the questions kids would love to find answers for by themselves.

Fantastic Mr. Fox, unlike two other works mentioned above, is a story that comes closest to real life, despite a fox being at the center stage.

Get a hardcover copy for your little ones here. An Audible audio book is available here, with some added vignettes. If you are not an Audible member, check out the banner ad to the right of this review to join for FREE, and get any two audiobooks of your choice available for download, right away!

Please let us know what you think of our Roald Dahl special entry.  

"Oh, The Places You'll Go!", by Dr. Seuss

Dr Seuss (along with Roald Dahl perhaps) doesn't need introduction and this one's a little obvious entry on our blog but it's the most indispensable one. "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" , is a timeless speech/book/advice/essay made ever so special by exquisite illustrations. Dr. Seuss, for many kids and adults, is a major part of their childhood literary scenes- and quite deservedly so.

The things that Dr. Seuss discusses in this book are mundanely simple, blatantly banal but perfectly relevant across ages. Seussville is a place of dreams and there's hope for everyone in Seussville.Whenever you or your little ones are about to end one phase of life and enter a new one (think kindergarten, first grade to second, high school, graduation, jobs, marriages and parenthood), this book can be all the advice you will ever need. Perfectly rollicking rhythm to his words was a gift that Dr Seuss enjoyed. He will warn you that life is a great leveler, 'a balancing act', but there's a lot of fun to be had as well, if you know where to look for it. He has quietly sneaked in some reading motivation for kids as well.

Dr Seuss assures (and with 98.75% confidence!) not only your kids, but you as well, that you are going to fly high and fall deep, but fear not, life is indeed about ups and downs. Isn't that what every philosopher said?

This, by far, is our most favorite of Dr Seuss books. There are many other good ones as well, but none so relevant and wise for all age groups.

We look forward to hearing your comments and here's a special discount for you guys on Amazon.

Title of the Book: Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Author: Dr. Seuss

Age Group: 3-6 (but really, it's good for everyone)

"The Book with No Pictures" by B.J. Novak

The title gave it away, didn't it? You will surely never come across books like The Book with No Pictures too often. The author, Mr Novak, is an award winning humorist and acclaimed actor. But this endeavor from him has now largely become his claim to fame.

Writing a good book is difficult, as admitted by the best in the business. Most influential of writers are often little prolific (think Joyce or Woolf). Now, think one step ahead. Writing a good book for children must then be EXTREMELY difficult. As Dostoevsky famously said, children can be the harshest of the critics. So, when thousands of kids across the country absolutely adore a book, you can be sure that the book is worth your attention.

The Book with No Pictures has no fuss about it. There are no pictures in it, as you would guess (duh!). Kids often get glued to this one once they open the first page. The book affectionately calls upon its fledgling 'readers' to say whatever the book says. What happens once kids start 'read+saying' this book can only be described as a laughter riot. The words like BLUURFF and GLIBBITY GLOBBITY are just the beginning. With very clever arrangement of text size, fonts and colors, the effect achieved is really pleasant and creative. This book is a perfect choice for a little get-together for kids. You would think that it would be an uphill task for a book without pictures to grab the attention of the kids. But all you have to do is take a look at how good this book looks with just text.

So, our advice is, for once, let the kids read this one to you. This book without pictures, yes absolutely no pictures is charmingly silly and hugely entertaining.

Here's a little video of kids and the author trying to have some fun with a book that doesn't like pictures at all!

A hardcover copy is available on Amazon at discounted price here. 

Title of the book: The Book with No Pictures

Author: B.J. Novak

Age Group: 6-8

"The Day the Crayons Quit" by Drew Daywalt: A deserving bestseller

                                   

There's a reason why many students at any given school in America would point to this one as their favorite book today. Children's books, as a trend, have tended to be limited in approach. However, this one is a tad different. Apart from being a bestseller, The Day the Crayons Quit is a very well put together parable as well.

As many would know, children don't like monotony. Kids' stories strive hard to drive monotony away. Why should their crayons get stuck in monotonous roles all the time then? That's a fairly legit question and that's what Drew seems to be asking us. One day, out of the blue (forgive the pun), all the crayons just decide to quit. They have apparently had it and now is their time to lodge some protest. Black crayon doesn't want to do the menial job of bordering and green is sick of being used as grass. Blue seems to be bored with sky and ocean while yellow wants to be used for something more than the sun. 

It's really interesting how children can imagine their own stories with this plot. After going through The Day the Crayons Quit, every single time they color a page, they will definitely try to think out of the box and utilize their creative powers to use the colors differently. Isn't that what management schools call 'creative resource management'? Well done, Mr Daywalt!

                                          

Speaking about the illustrations, there's very little room left by Oliver Jeffers (who himself is an acclaimed author of Once upon an Alphabet ) for complaints. The pages are smooth, well bound and extremely easy to go through. 

So, to conclude this review, all that can be said is that this is a very well finished work of art and parents will definitely enjoy it as much as children, if not more. Good books (and good books for children are no exception) are the ones that are worth your time and this book stands to that test quite well.

You can buy the hardcover copy at a discounted rate from here.

Title of the book: The Day the Crayons Quit

Author: Drew Daywalt

Illustrator: Oliver Jeffers

Age Group: 3-7

"Corduroy" by Don Freeman : Just about a perfect book for kids

Corduroy, the hero of the book, is not an everyday hero. He's just a little teddy bear -that universally loved and adored species- who gets stuck at night in a department store. But, his story is definitely one of the best loved kids' stories and that makes "Corduroy" an automatic selection to kick start this new blog that deals with quality children's books. Good books for kids are hard to come by in this day and age of Internet and we hope this effort helps parents find some perfect selections for their kids.

There are many books with toys coming alive, but Corduroy being there in almost every American home for close to 50 years, now enjoys a league of his own. The story of Corduroy, put in perfect little steps makes for a great nighttime tale. Lisa, another character in the story, is just as likable and not many kids would find it difficult to put themselves in her shoes. The desperation that Corduroy feels when he gets secluded in the store, the joy he experiences when little Lisa buys him 'a home' and the picture perfect happy ending would definitely leave the kids - and even the parents- satisfied in a way that only a good book can leave them.

                             

Children's books often fizzle out in intensity and leave a lot to be desired. Corduroy, on the other hand, doesn't flatter to deceive and is without a doubt an enchanting experience. It's a bit like reliving your childhood while telling the story to your kids- a classic sign of a good kids book!

You can buy a solid hardcover with impressive illustrations here. For better experience, an unabridged Audible recording of this book is also available here.

Please share your and your kids' experiences with Corduroy in the comments section. If you have a great recommendation for fellow parents, do let us know through comments or emails. And of course, if you little one wants to pen a review, we will be more than happy to publish those.
Happy reading :)

Title of the book: Corduroy

Author: Don Freeman
Age group: 3-7

Type: Illustrated book with large font (double check with your edition)