The BFG

Oh, Big Friendly Giant, I am so grateful to you forever.  You finally got my Lacy interested in reading chapter books with me.  This was not the first chapter book Lacy listened to.  But this is the first one that Lacy actually actively listened to, enjoyed, and begged for more.  If you haven't read The BFG by Roald Dahl, you must go read this book.  Today, if possible.  It's worth it.

How did I get Lacy interested in reading a book about giants?  I told her there was a queen in the book.  And she was immediately interested.  This is such a great book for all kids, boys and girls alike, and I really wanted Lacy to hear this one and love it, so I used whatever I could to get her to want to hear it.  I'm glad I did- she loved it!

The two main characters in the BFG are Sophie and The Big Friendly Giant, or BFG.  He is the only giant who doesn't eat human beans.  Instead, he collects dreams and gives them to the little childlers at night while they sleep.  One night Sophie awakens during the witching hour and observes The BFG blowing dreams to boys and girls.  In order to protect his identity, he kidnaps her and takes her to his cave, where they eventually come up with a plan (this is where the queen comes in!) to rid the world of the disgusting, flithsome giants forevermore.

This book is interesting and fast paced.  This is an excellent choice for a first read-aloud chapter book.  Even if you don't have a child at home to listen to you read this aloud, you should still read this book if you haven't already. It is one of my favorite children's novels of all-time.

I just realized that I need to read more Roald Dahl to Lacy.  I've got to figure out my angle in order to convince Lacy that it's worthwhile to listen to... if it's not about princesses or little girls, she's really not interested.  We've read Matilda and she loved it, but I tried to read The Witches and she was not having it.