The BFG

Eight-year-old Sophie is looking out the orphanage window during the 'witching hour' and espies a giant, who plucks her up and takes her back with him to 'giant country,' where he explains he is a Big Friendly Giant, but the other giants would eat her up if given the chance. When Sophie learns that the other giants are going out every night and gobbling up humans left and right, she is determined that she and the BFG must stop them. With a bit of help from the Queen of England, they might be able to end this gigantic reign of terror.

I must confess that as a child, I never read any Roald Dahl books, which is a shame because I think I would have appreciated them so much back then. When The BFG film came out, a friend and I were hysterical show more over the main character's misspeaks and the situational humor in it, so I decided I should read the book at last. There are significant differences, but both the movie and the book are entertaining in their own right. The BFG himself is a very funny character as well as an endearing one, in spite of his early mistake in kidnapping Sophie.

Despite an overall humorous tone, Dahl does tackle a couple of deep issues in the book as the BFG and Sophie talk about the other giants. She is indignant about their behavior in eating humans, but the BFG points out how humans eat other animals and how humans often murder one another, whereas the giants are just aiming for survival. Ultimately, this is just a small part of the book, but I like how it provides some food for thought.

There are a few problematic mentions in the books of non-British nationalities/ethnicities (e.g., a couple of references to "Eskimos" and "Hottentots") as well as a couple of unnecessary gendered divides (e.g., the BFG organizes his dream collection into "girl dreams" and "boy dreams"). However, considering that the book was written by a person born in 1916, I can mostly overlook these. Parents or teachers might want to make note though and talk to their children about these issues and how these attitudes are regressive.

David Williams is a talented and apt narrator for the audiobook, doing a great job of the BFG's garbled speak as well as creating a variety of distinct voices for all the characters that appear, even minor ones. This particular version features "special sound effects," which were a bit distracting, especially if you listen to this book while driving! I could see how the special effects were meant to be engaging for young listeners, and there were times they were spot on, such as including the whooshing sounds of the blades when the text described the helicopters in flight. However, there were other times when the sound effects didn't add much or frankly didn't make sense. For example, an early mention of a noise that was 'as loud as thunder' was followed by a thunder clap. But there wasn't actually thunder, just a thunderous sound!

Overall, this is an imaginative and amusing read that children who like fantasy and/or magical realism will greatly enjoy. show less

A young orphan named Sophie, awake at the witching hour one night and looking out of the window of the orphanage where she lives, is seen by a passing giant, who scoops her up through the window and brings her back to his cave. Unlike the other eight giants in existence, who are truly terrible, the BFG - Big Friendly Giant - does not eat people. Rather, he captures dreams and doles them out to good children, while they are sleeping. Nightmares, he destroys. It is Sophie who suggests that the other giants, who abuse the BFG, should be imprisoned, and the two unlikely companions make their way to London, where they enlist the aid of the Queen...

Originally published in 1982, The BFG was apparently dedicated to author Roald Dahl's daughter, show more Olivia, who died at the age of seven in 1962, of measles encephalitis. This is terribly poignant, and made me wonder what aspects of the story (if any) - perhaps the character of Sophie? the dream-catching? the giants? - made Dahl dedicate this to his long-dead daughter. Leaving that issue aside, I found this one quite enjoyable, when I read it for the course on the history of children's literature that I took, while getting my masters. Other than Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which I read as a young girl, I had never read any other books by Dahl, when I picked The BFG up. I was pleasantly surprised, as I'd found the humor in 'Charlie' sufficiently nasty, as a younger reader, that I'd never approached the author's work again. Here however, I thought the tone was gentler, more compassionate, less mocking. I appreciated the conversations between Sophie and the BFG, in which "this extraordinary giant was disturbing her ideas... leading her toward mysteries that were beyond her understanding."

I won't go so far as to say I loved this one, or that it completely changed my view of Dahl, who has always seemed to me to have a rather nasty undertone to his books, but it was enjoyable, and gave me pause. The more rational adult reader in me (as opposed to the determinedly opinionated child) is constrained to admit that one or two books is an insufficient sample, to make any firm judgment on the author's work. I've long wanted to read Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox, perhaps I'll try that next? show less

This was our December pick for the fifth-grade book club at Henry's school. I was appalled at just how many of them didn't like it. What's not to like? Reading this as an adult is so different than reading it as a child. I now understand just how lonely the BFG is, and how proud he is that he's different from all the other giants (whose escapades I found entirely uninteresting this time around).

So I know every fan of children's literature is going to gasp collectively in disbelief when I say this, but I am not a fan of Roald Dahl. When I was a kid, I found his books generally disturbing, particularly James and the Giant Peach, which actually gave me nightmares. But my son wanted to read The BFG with me. He'd seen the movie, and really enjoyed it, and he wanted to read the book. And when your 9-year-old voracious reader asks to read aloud to him, you do it, because those moments don't come along very often anymore. And you know what? This book was absolutely delightful! As a read-aloud, it's a little challenging, what with the wonderful Giant speak, but well worth the effort. I was definitely charmed.

I adored this book as a kiddo, and I’ve loved rereading it with my kids. But I think the brilliance of Dahl is that he’s not meant for adults. The things that give me pause, name-calling between the giants, the big giants bullying the BFG, or an entire scene about a gassy soda drink, are all the things that get my kids giggling. I love he wrote what delights children, even including darker moments, instead of catering to make it “safe” for adults.

This was one of my favorite books when I was little, and it was a delight to read it again. There's just something about the combination of words like scrumdidlyuptious, swashboggling, and thingalingaling with Quentin Blake's illustration that lets me know I'm in for fun.

Sophie is a bright little girl doing her best after being kidnapped by a friendly giant. She's not quite as enterprising as the titular character of [b:Matilda|39988|Matilda|Roald Dahl|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388793265s/39988.jpg|1015554], doing more reacting than instigating and getting a bit lost in the fourth act when the adults take over, but she still manages to save the day at the last minute. And it's lovely to have a girl main character with thick show more glasses--not something I appreciated while I was eight and un-bespectacled, but something that I do like now.

I'd completely forgotten the crazy way the BFG speaks, and I have a feeling that with trying to sound my way through the words (or, let's be honest, skipping them after the first syllable) would have either been very fun or very frustrating--maybe more fun if a parent was reading these nonsense words out loud.

I found it amusing that Dahl seems to have had quite a beef with math teachers--two of them are the victims of children's good dreams, being taught a lesson of their own. One of the most devastating moments of second grade was when my teacher refused to keep reading Matilda because the first chapter was told from the perspective of a teacher imagining the delightfully horrid ways they would describe their real feelings about their beastlier students. It gave me a smile to see that attitude showing up again.

All in all, a charming little book, imaginative and fairy-tale-like as always, and with Dahl's characteristic darkness interwoven with the fun, proving that he understands how children can handle stories that aren't all sunshine and roses. BFG's as grumpy as Gandalf while Sophie is a model child, and they play off each other perfectly.

Quote Roundup

49) "What I say and what I mean is two different things," the BFG announced rather grandly.
Dahl might very well say this about a lot of his work! One of the best parts of his writing is having his adults speak more pompously and circumlocutiously (hee hee!) than the children in a way that young readers can still tell isn't quite getting across the meaning.

53) "Words," he said, "is oh such a twitch-tickling problem to me all my life. So you must simply be patient and stop squibbling. As I am telling you before, I know exactly what words I am wanting to say, but somehow or other they is always getting squiff-squiddled around."
A problem that any language learner, but especially the children reading this book, can relate to. show less

Typical Roald Dahl -- just sweet enough but infused with salty wit and just enough preposterous humor to make the dark undercurrents all the better as leavening for what is, really, a charming and whimsical story. Mostly. Well worth the very quick read, even for cynical adults who may think that a book that features fart jokes in the presence of the Queen of England beneath them. If you think so, you are missing out on the good fun of _The BFG_!