Book Review: George’s Marvellous Medicine

Love of reading is a perfect recipe for never being bored, never being alone and always learning.

As parents, we must try and help develop the habit of reading in our children. Also Read: “Developing the Habit of Reading in Children”

Author: Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl is one of the most wonderful author of children’s books. His books can be enjoyed by children and are also fun to read for adults. He was a British author of Norwegian descent. His first children’s book was ‘The Gremlins’. Some of his best loved books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, BFG have also been made into movies, which have been equally popular.

Illustrator: Quentin Blake

Age Range:

It is best suited for 6-10 year olds.

George’s Marvellous Medicine

George, an 8 year old boy, is given the responsibility of administering medicine to his grandmother whenever his parents are not at home. The problem is that his grandmother is a grumpy and selfish old woman who continually bullies George. She treats him so badly that he sometimes wonders if she is a witch and has a strong desire to do something to her.

As a result he decides to make a marvellous new medicine for her “one that is so strong and so fierce and so fantastic it will either cure her completely or blow off the top of her head.” He concocts a medicine by putting in a long list of things. The ruke was whatever he saw, if it was runny, powdery or gooey, it went in. The medicine is made and it does have marvellous and hilarious effects.

It is a fun read for children and most will be laughing out loud as they read every page. A short book, of just around 100 pages, children will definitely not like to let it go till they finish it. An entertaining read for children.

Link to the Amazon page for George’s Marvellous Medicine.

Cons:

There are a few things about this book which we need to be careful about. The most obvious is that we ensure children realise it is not ok to pull such a prank at home. While most children at this age (where they can read this book) understand their limits, the mischievous ones will probably be need to be told not to try this at home on anyone.

The other thing which I did not like is the language that is used.

Grandma says “Mummy’s as stupid as you are”

Or when George’s father says “Don’t listen to the old goat”, referring to grandmother.

While this the way the characters have been shown and the language is what many serials also show, but reading seems to have a bigger impact on children.

I would not say that children should not read this book because of the language or plot, but only that parents need to be cognizant of these facts and should proactively ensure that they tell their children that this is not how they are expected to speak or behave.

The story overall is fun and my own 7 year old enjoyed it thoroughly.  

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