Charlie is eleven years old; he lives in a large town in England, with his mother, father and four grandparents—Grandpa George, Grandma Georgina, Grandpa Joe and Grandma Josephine. Charlie’s family is poor and has very little to eat, and so, naturally, they crave food. But there is one type of food that Charlie craves most of all, and that is: chocolate. He loves chocolate. Watching the kids around him munching on the delicious stuff is pure torture, but the biggest torture of all is that in Charlie’s town there is the biggest and best chocolate factory in the whole world: Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.
One day, the newspaper sends out an announcement that Mr. Wonka, the founder, has hidden five golden tickets in five separate chocolate bars that are hidden amongst the millions of chocolate bars in the stores. If you find a golden ticket, you get a tour of the factory and a lifetime supply of candy. Suddenly, all over the world, there is a mad rush for candy bars. A report goes out that two tickets have been found. One by Veruka Salt, a girl spoiled rotten by her rich parents and one by Augustus Glupe, a boy who eats all day long. And then a couple days later, the day before Charlie’s birthday, two more golden tickets are found; One, by Violet Bouregard, a world-record gum chewer, and one my Mike Teevy, who watches television all the time. There is one left, who will find it?
To borrow a phrase from one of the characters in the book, Charlie’s tale is “an absolute wizbanger.” It is one of my favorite books. It is humorous; for instance, when Mr. Wonka is telling some people about the “Umpa Lumpas”—the creatures he hires to do his work in the factory—and is describing where they live, one mom listening to his description protests that no such place exists, and remarks: “Mister Wonka, I am a teacher of Geography.” Mr. Wonka replies: “Then you’ll know all about it.”
Also, when some newspapermen interview “the lucky young lady”, she got into talking about sticking gum on elevator buttons so when nice ladies with gloves use the elevator, they get gum stuck on their fingers.
It is a very funny book but also has some very good moral lessons. For all of those things and many other things, this is one of my favorite books and you definitely should read it.
