Rating: Not for me

Reading Level: Mid-late Elementary


If you like other Roald Dahl books for their silliness, creativity & surprise, you’ll probably like this one too. It does err on the darker side in some ways and I don’t recommend it to have in your home.

George is a little boy who is fed up with his grandma & makes a plan to mix household liquids into a replacement for her daily medicine. He poisons her with what turns out to be a fantastic and startling mixture he brews. He replaces it with her medicine. In the end the ”medicine” makes her grow to the size of giant and in a 3rd or 4th round ends up shrinking her down to disappearing all together.

Concerns:

  • Lack of respect for elders. If respect for elders is a serious principle in your family, this book might make you cringe. Read the 1st 2 pages for yourself: grandma’s mouth is likened to a dog’s anus. When Grandma shrinks down to nothing the family sort of shrugs and says its for the best that she is gone.
  • Potty/body humor (see above).
  • Poison. The whole premise is that George poisons his grandmother.

Bottom line: This isn’t my favorite of Dahl’s & I don’t recommend it for your bookshelf. It is silly and creative but it is also demeaning to a crotchety old grandma. If your kid does read it, I would make darn sue they are mature enough to know that mixing toxins & feeding them to a family member is off limits. If you’re looking for a Roald Dahl book that has lots of silliness without the demeaning dehumanization of a villain, I highly recommend The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me by this same author.