Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

 

Title: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Author: Roald Dahl

Read by: Douglas Hodge
Publisher: Penguin Audio

Length: Approximately 3.5 hours (3 CDs)
Source: Penguin Audio Review Copy – Thank-you!

Somehow in my youth, I missed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  I’ve never read the book nor have I seen either version of the movie.  My husband LOVED Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when he was a youth.  When these new audiobook versions of Roald Dahl showed up in the mail from Penguin for me to review, he was VERY excited.  The kids had also not been exposed to Charlie yet, so we got out the CD to listen to on our trip to Michigan in August to visit my family.

My seven year old and five year old sons LOVED this audiobook.  Douglas Hodge as the narrator was enthusiastic and had a fantastic English accent.  The audiobook also featured numerous sound effects and great music that definitely added to the entire audiobook experience.  My two-year old daughter just wanted to listen to the music at the start of the story over and over again. The story itself was fantastic and really engaged the boys.  They didn’t want to stop the car as they wanted to find out what had happened to Charlie, especially whether he had won the golden ticket.

For those of you like me that have somehow not been exposed to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, this story is about a nice, honest boy named Charlie Bucket.  He lives with his parents and both sets of grandparents.  They are facing tough times with not enough food to eat, but the one thing that engages the entire family’s imagination is a contest to win a “golden” ticket to visit Willa Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.  Only five lucky children will be lucky enough to win a ticket to see the wonders of the factory itself.

The kids were fully engaged with the story and loved the vivid imagery.  It was quite the story and so very unique.  I enjoyed it as well.  The boys started listening to the next novel, Charlie and the Glass Elevator and they are having a harder time listening to it,  although they have recently been listening to it again on trips to Green Bay and are enjoying it.

I typically donate audiobooks to the library after I review them, but the kids have begged me to keep this one.  They definitely want to listen to it again!