The BFG by Roald Dahl
I adore Roald Dahl. Matilda is by far still my favourite book by him, but The BFG will never cease to amuse me.
It’s the story of Sophie, a little orphan girl who just happened to be awake at the witching hour. She just happens to see the BFG on the streets of London that night, and the BFG steals her away, taking her to giant land.
BFG? What is that? The Big Friendly Giant, of course! He doesn’t seem all that friendly when he spirits Sophie away, though, and neither is he really big, as Sophie discovers in giant land. The other giants are bigger than him and have names like Childchewer and Fleshlumpeater, and are mean and eat human beans. (Giants don’t go to school so sometimes they use the wrong words. And bad grammar! But they’re excused, because they’re giants. The part where one of them insisted that he was bitten by a “vindshield viper” was particularly hilarious — it sent me snorting with laughter.) The BFG doesn’t eat humans, he eats an awful vegetable called the snozzcumber instead. He also catches dreams and blows them into children’s bedrooms at night, and Sophie decides he’s a gentle soul, after all.
Of course, Sophie can’t just let the other giants go on eating humans. So she hatches up a plan with the BFG and gets the Queen of England to help them get rid of the nasty giants so that everyone can live happily ever after.
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