 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
- By Roald Dahl
- Genre: Science Fiction
Common Sense Media says
Not up to the original, but entertaining.
Parents say
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this book has vividly described, highly whimsical events, accompanied by clever sketches, but the story is a pale shadow of the original. It has highly descriptive -- and, at times, invented -- language, and references to the Cold War.
What's the story?
When we last saw Charlie, at the end of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he was sailing through the sky with his family in Willy Wonka's Great Glass Elevator. At the beginning of this sequel, the flying Elevator accidentally hurtles into outer space, where a Commuter Capsule is shuttling its passengers to the Space Hotel U.S.A.
The Capsule's astronauts mistake the Elevator's passengers for aliens. But there are real aliens inside the Space Hotel--slimy Vermicious Knids. Mr. Wonka, Charlie, and his family escape just in time, but some of the Capsule's passengers not so lucky--several of them are killed. For a while, it looks like the aliens will get them all. But Mr. Wonka uses the Great Glass Elevator to get everyone safely back to earth, where the President, a bit of a buffoon, invites them to the White House.
Is it any good?
This zippy tale is enjoyable enough, but it doesn't live up to the promise of Roald Dahl's first tale of Charlie Bucket's adventures with Willy Wonka. The main problem is that the story just isn't as timeless as the first. Surely adults will recognize the sly satire of the American space program and the Cold War of the early '70s, but children probably won't.
What is timeless, though, is Dahl's irreverent wit and irrepressible imagination. Children will be charmed when Mr. Wonka uses bad nonsense poetry to convince astronauts and the gullible authorities back on Earth that he is an alien invader. Readers will also be thrilled by the real aliens, the inventively named Vermicious Knids, who are horrifyingly stretchy egg-shaped creatures with disgusting "greenish-brown skin of a shiny, wettish appearance." If your children haven't come across Charlie and the Chocolate Factory yet, make sure they read it first.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about aging. What do the grandparents learn from their experience with Wonka's pills?
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AGE
This may be a book that you would take the trouble taking out of a library, but to be frank, it really isn't worth spending the money on. It gives the sense that Dahl is just trying to build on the previous book and have it piggyback on its fame, but it just lacks the color and character of the earlier book.
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AGE
VIOLENT INDEED.. WRITER WENT OVERBOARD..
Aliens that kill the naughty kids.. Not a good read or lesson to teach any child or adult for that matter..
Leave this book at the store...
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Kid, 12 years old
May 6, 2010
AGE
Awesome book, but BIG MISTAKE BY MRS. WAHM2BOYS.
Good, even better than Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Loved the Vermicious Knids! BUT SEE HERE, MRS. WAHM2BOYS, THE VERMICIOUS KNIDS DIDN'T EVEN GET TO EARTH! HOW COULD THEY KILL THE KIDS?!!
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Kid, 11 years old
April 9, 2008
AGE
ITS THE BEST BOOK IN THE WORLD
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AGE
A hilarious, nonsense book for all ages!
Not much to say. Awsome. Hilarious. Plain, laugh- out- loud funny!
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| Author: | Roald Dahl |
| Illustrator: | Quentin Blake |
| Book type: | Fiction |
| Genre: | Science Fiction |
| Publisher: | Penguin Group |
| Publication date: | January 1, 1972 |
| Number of pages: | 176 |
| Hardcover price: | $0.00 |
| Paperback price: | $5.99 |
| Publisher's recommended age(s): | 9 - 12 |
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