The BFG

by Roald Dahl

Paperback, 2016

Status

Available

Local notes

PB Dah

Barcode

792

Publication

Puffin Books (2016), Edition: Media Tie In, 224 pages, $7.99

Description

Kidsnatched from her orphanage by a BFG (Big Friendly Giant), who spends his life blowing happy dreams to children, Sophie concocts with him a plan to save the world from nine other man-gobbling cannybull giants.

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1982

Physical description

224 p.; 5.13 inches

Media reviews

New York Times
The BFG captures the imagination of every adult and child with an imagination worth capturing. Wonderfully written, witty, courageous, understated and with such a strong morality, this book is a treaure for young and old readers alike. We have been blessed with the gift of language and writers like
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Roald Dahl allow themselves to roll in the hay with letters and words. The result is a story with a big heart and a dancing theme.
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User reviews

LibraryThing member Whisper1
By far, my favorite of all the Dahl books I've read to date.

Orphaned, bespectacled, tiny Sophie creeps out of bed during the witching hour when all is dark and quiet. She observes a BIG giant blowing something in windows. She later finds that the giant is blowing dreams into the bedroom of
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children.

She is then kidnapped by the BFG (Big Friendly Giant) and taken to a far away land where she observes that all other giants are bigger and nastier and eat human "beans!"

There is an incredible beauty in the development of the relationship between the BFG and Sophie as together they plot to undo The Fleshlumpeaters, The Bonecrunchers, The Manhuggers, The Meat drippers and The Butcher boysl. The creativity and the play on words made it a book I hated to see end.

Highly recommended. Five Stars!!!!
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LibraryThing member DubaiReader
A great read aloud book.

I have been reading this to the two children who I pick up from school, one chapter at a time. They are aged 4 and 6, and when I started the book I thought the language was going to be a problem. It seems I was wrong! The 6 yr old enthusiastically absorbed the new-fangled
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words and quoted these as one of the things he enjoyed about the book. (See his review below).

The BFG (Big Friendly Giant), is not like his fellow giants, and while they spend every evening guzzling children (chidlers), straight from their beds, the BFG creeps around blowing happy dreams into children's bedrooms at night. He has a magnificent collection of these dreams, kept in jars in his cave in Giantland. While his compatriots snore away their afternoons, the BFG goes out catching dreams to blow into bedrooms.
No-one ever sees the giants, until Sophie wakes in her dormitory as the BFG blows happy dreams into the room; he is forced to take her with him as the giants must not be seen.
And so their adventure begins.

Jayden's review, aged 6: (**Beware, this may contain some spoilers**)
I liked The BFG, especially because the queen was in it.
I liked the dreams when BFG mixed up the different types of dreams.
I liked that the BFG took Sophie because she saw him, I thought that was funny.
I thought the nasty giants were really weird because they were nearly naked and they howled when they got hurt. Also they were so much taller than the BFG.
I liked the table that they made for the BFG, using the grandfather clocks, and then they had to use a ladder to serve him.
I thought it was funny because of the words the author made up, they turned words that were real into other words, like cucucumbers into snozzcumbers.
The bad giants had a funny, spiky hair style, that was funny too.
I thought it was great that Sophie was so determined to stop the giants from eating children.
I liked the way the book was written, they had really thought about what should happen and how it would happen.
One thing I didn't like was that the giants had eaten lots of children before the BFG and Sophie stopped them.

And Keiaran, aged 4:
It was fun, I loved it.
I wish I could take The BFG home. (I gave them my copy!)
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LibraryThing member stephmo
Dahl's amazing ability to bend language into a silly tapestry of friendship, bravery and the ability of the two to come together and allow others to find the best within shines in BFG. Young Sophie is spirited away in the middle of the night by the dream-bringing BFG (Big Friendly Giant) when she
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has the misfortune of being the first "human bean" to see him on his evening rounds. Luckily for her, he's the snozzcucumber-eating giant and not the type looking to feast on young children. In classic Dahl fashion, they're fast friends who are the better for having known each other in a tale spun together with a dash of the amazing, several heaping servings of whimsy and a whole lot of fantastic.
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LibraryThing member amycampbell
A fabulous story about a little girl that gets kidnapped by a Big Friendly Giant (The BFG). Once in giant country she catches site of the other giants, which she finds out are man eatting giants. The BFG and Sophie have many adventures, the last of which, is the one where they capture the
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man-eating giants and lock them up for life. This story is bound to keep you on the edge of your seat.
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LibraryThing member StormRaven
Sophie is an orphan who is awakened at night by a sound from outside her bedroom window. It turns out that she has heard a giant sneaking through town, and when he figures out she has seen him, he kidnaps her away to giant country. Once there, Sophie learns that she has been kidnapped by the one
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friendly giant in the world: the Big Friendly Giant. She also learns that the other nine giants are monsters that dwarf the BFG and sneak around at night to diet on humans (in the BFGs terminology "human beans").

Unfortunately, the BFG, being half the size of the other giants, outnumbered, and not nearly as fast, can't directly do anything to stop their nighttime culinary activities. However, after learning all about giants, and dealing with the BFG's garbled grammar, use of words, and pronunciation (he never went to school, he explains) Sophie comes up with a plan to foil the evil giants that involves the Queen of England, helicopters, and a big pit. In the end, all ends well, except for the children consumed by the evil giants during the preparation of Sophie's plan.

As with most Dahl's books, this one has a dark edge to it underneath the obvious humor. Most kids harbor fears that something will snatch them from their homes while they sleep and eat them, and the villains in this book do just that. Not only that, the heroes are helpless to prevent the villains from carrying out their stated intention to gobble down a collection of children. Overall, pretty strong stuff for a children's book. However, the story manages to also carry off a lighthearted tone as the BFG misuses words, explains some oddities about how giants perceive the world (for example, people from Wellington taste like boots, and people from Panama taste like hats), collects dreams, and finally (with Sophie's help) outsmarts the bigger, man-eating giants. Somehow, Dahl is able to combine silly goofiness with a story about children being stolen from their beds and eaten and come up with a book that works.

I wouldn't hand this book to a very small child, as they might get freaked out by scenes such as the one where Sophie and the BFG watch the evil giants returning with bellies full of small children. A child who is 9 or 10 should find the book very funny and enjoyable. In the end, the mixture of silliness and scariness adds up to one of Dahl's best books.
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LibraryThing member technodiabla
I read this to my 6 year old daughter. The writing (lots of nonesense words) was cute as first, but became tiresome after a while. The story goes on a bit longer than it really needs to. My daughter loved it of course.
LibraryThing member sradin2
I loved this book for many different reasons. The first reason is because of the language that was used throughout the book. I thought it was really entertaining as a reader to decode all of the crazy things that the BFG said. I also liked his language because it was very kid friendly and something
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that young readers would be able to relate to and find humorous. Another reason why I liked the book is because of the illustrations. Even though there weren't many illustrations, I felt that they were always included at the right times. The illustrations helped the reader visual the crazy abstract things that were occurring to the characters. In my opinion, the overall message of this book is to not judge a book by its cover and to remember that everyone deserves a friend.
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LibraryThing member lyzadanger
My husband and I listened to this as an audio book during a long driving trip to the American Southwest. I was skeptical, even though I love Roald Dahl, and at first I thought much might be lost in not being able to see the spelling of the BFG's adorable malapropisms. But the reader was talented
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and brought the voices of the giants to life. And this book is indeed adorable. Not sickly-treacly adorable, but just plain heartwarming.

I think it was this exchange between Sophie (the protagonist, a young girl) and the BFG (giant) toward the beginning of the book that won me over. Sophie is concerned that she is about to be eaten:

‘Do you like vegetables?’ Sophie asked, hoping to steer the conversation towards a slightly less dangerous kind of food.

‘You is trying to change the subject,’ the Giant said sternly. ‘We is having an interesting babblement about the taste of the human bean. The human bean is not a vegetable.’

‘Oh, but the bean is a vegetable,’ Sophie said.

‘Not the human bean,’ the Giant said. ‘The human bean has two legs and a vegetable has no legs at all.’

When I was child I adored Dahl, but now I realize that his writing is timeless in its endearing quality. Much recommended.
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LibraryThing member anneofia
The big, friendly giant mixes up his words in a very funny way, which I suspect is aimed more at the adults who read the book rather than the 8-to-12-year-olds for which it was intended. . The story revolves around Sophie, an orphan, who is snatched up out of her bed by a Giant. She can see that
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he's Big, but she doesn't know he's Friendly until later when she finds out he doesn't intend to eat her after all. They have an adventure together and become good friends. They even get to meat the Queen of England. I would think it is just a wee bit scary for 8-year-olds, what with children getting eaten up by Giants, right out of their beds, but it's pretty funny for adults!
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LibraryThing member genevieve1331
“The BFG,” by Roald Dahl is a story about a young orphan girl named Sophie who was captured from her bedroom window by the big friendly giant. The BFG takes Sophie to giant country where the two become best of friends. Sophie teaches the BFG how to speak proper English and the BFG introduces
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Sophie to his whole new and magical world. Sophie soon learns that the BFG is the only giant of his kind and the rest are human eaters. The two work together and with the help of the Queen of England, they are able to put a stop to the human eating giants.

I really enjoyed this book because of the friendship that developed between Sophie and the BFG. Two completely different people sought companionship in each other and accomplished great things together. Not only was it a warming story, but it was humorous and fun as well.

After reading this story, children could write a story or journal about something that they had accomplished with one of their friends and how they worked together like the BFG and Sophie to get something done. Using extra long roll paper, children could also create their own giant and hang him up in the classroom. Each student could write an adjective on the giant describing how they felt or what they thought about him.
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LibraryThing member ChristineRobinson
Now a classic, this Roald Dahl book tells the story of Sophie and the BFG (Big Friendly Giant) and their quest to rid the world of the horrible man and children eating other giants. They team up with the Queen and the British Army and Air Force to catch the bad giants. Dahl’s ridiculous dialogue
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between Sophie and the BFG often makes little sense because of the BFG’s strange vocabulary. But this only adds to the hilarity of the book and endears him to the reader. This is a must read for every child before they reach high school. Blake’s whimsical illustrations complete the book in a way only he could.
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LibraryThing member Amy_Marie
The BFG is the Big Friendly Giant who is unlike the other giants who are mean and like to eat children! The BFG instead likes to bring dreams to children. Little Sophie teams up with the BFG to stop the other mean giants in this humorous yet suspenseful story. The fun made up language makes this
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book slightly more challenging but very funny for kids! I would recommend reading this book out loud because of this.
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LibraryThing member rsturtz
a world of bad giants and a girl finds a good giant and they become friends and do some amazing things
LibraryThing member ngajasmine
Very instesting and fun to read.
LibraryThing member miyurose
I liked this quite a bit more than Matilda, maybe because it is obviously fanciful from the start. It’s hard to fault its “nice guys win” message. I loved the language in this… the whimsy instantly brings Dr. Seuss to mind. In fact, I may have to add “whizzpopper” to my own vocabulary
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(what a fun word to introduce to my niece and nephew!).

As a side note, this audio book was narrated by the tragically departed Natasha Richardson, and she did a wonderful job.
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LibraryThing member kdebros
Great book! A little girl is captured by a vegetarian giant and must be hidden from the carnivorous giants. Lots of interesting and silly discussions, including what children from around the world taste like and what a vegetarian giant eats.
LibraryThing member AuntJha
I just started reading this to Ethan. I could have sworn I read this as a child, but am realizing this is my first time...I have absolutely no recollection of this. I'm only about 5 pages in, but it is very good british (I think so far) tale. My favorite imaginary game as a child was called
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orphanage, so I am wondering how I could have missed this?...12/21/08 We had gotten through the first few chapters and I decided to put it away until Ethan was older. At 3 years old, the story could hold his attention but was beyond his comprehension. It is a great book and I look forward to revisiting it later when he can appreciate it. For now we've started Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary instead.
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LibraryThing member TakeItOrLeaveIt
all great writers respect coveted authors. and ones who had a way of masking what they really wanted to say so brilliantly through persona's or characters or visionary worlds. Roald Dahl is a shining member of this school of thought. BFG is just another classic every young reader should get off on.
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I certainly did in 2nd grade.
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LibraryThing member unlikelyaristotle
No one will ever beat Roald Dahl as King of Children's Fiction. I absolutely despise what passes these days for children's books, which I think lack imagination and basic morals (be kind to people, share with your friends, etc), save for a rare few (I have a seven year old sister so I take an
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interest in what happens). This book engages readers, young and old, and I also love it 'cause it roots for the underdog. Go BFG!
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LibraryThing member MusicMom41
I enjoyed Esio Trot so much I picked up the last Dahl book I’ve been able to find used to purchase and read it, too. (I do have three more stories on the discs the LT friend sent but don’t own those books.) I’ve enjoyed them all, but this one was my favorite and I could imagine myself being
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entirely enthralled by it if had read it as a child. Not only is the story about Sophie and the Big Friendly Giant delightful but the word play is fabulous and fun—something I have always loved. Some of the ways that Dahl describes people and events often reminds me of Mark Twain’s satiric humor, which may explain why adults can also enjoy his children’s stories. Highly recommended for adults and intelligent children who enjoy quirky, humorous stories with lots of word play.
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LibraryThing member jthomson9
This book tells a relationship like you and your grandfather. This book is really fun because its a fiction witch is a fantasy taking about as big fat giant soon you go deeper in the book you cant stop because its really fun and it also give you a chance to see what would other grandson and grandpa
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would be togher. So try this book out !_!
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LibraryThing member sgerbic
Reviewed Nov 2001

Stirling highly recommended this paperback as he had read it for A.R. in school. It is a British story of an orphan girl kid-napped by a giant. This giant captures dreams and gives he good dreams to children when they are asleep. The BFG is bullied by other larger giants who eat
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children. Sopie and the BFG work out a plan to capture the mean giants and keep them from eating people. This involves the Queen of England and her army. Dahl also wrote "James and the Giant Peach" and "The Witches" all 3 stories involve a young orphan and their adventures. I'm curious, do all his books involve orphans?

16-2001
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LibraryThing member dcwillis
I read this book nine years ago in second grade and still love it. Roald Dahl is an amazing author who weaves fantasy and emotion into many beautiful stories.

We read a lot of his books in second grade but this one was by far my favorite. A giant who controls dreams meets Sophie, an orphan who
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leads an unexciting life. This is no ordinary giant, no "man gobbling cannybull", this is the BFG. The Big Friendly Giant.

Read all about giants, dreams, friendships and BFG food and be introduced to new ideas.

Remember that "dreams is very mystical things."
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LibraryThing member msjoanna
It was great to listen to this childhood classic in audio format. The reader did a great job with the voices and all of the funny words -- snozcumbers anywone? I've always love Dahl's stories and this one is no exception. Though, I admit, listening to this again as an adult, it did make a pretty
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good case for vegetarianism, didn't it? Was I the only one that felt a tiny bit bad for the Giants?
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LibraryThing member joannas433
This book is about a giants.
There is a big giant. His name is BFG. The BFG standform is Big Friendly Giant. So he is friendly giant. They got to solve some problem.Found out what is going to happen next.

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Pages

224

Rating

(3200 ratings; 4.1)
Page: 1.2455 seconds