Once upon a time, in the land of literature, there lived a man named Roald Dahl. He wasn’t just any ordinary man; he was a man who could spin words into gold and create characters that danced off the pages and straight into our hearts. Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, Dahl’s life was as fascinating as his stories. A fighter pilot turned spy, turned author, he had a knack for the whimsical and the fantastical, which is evident in his timeless classics. No longer with us, his stories and characters still live on, and Dahl lovers are in for a Christmas treat with Charlie and the Christmas Factory and Other Stories – 12 stories by 13 different authors, all inspired by different Dahl fantabulous and glumptious characters. A whiz-banger of a read for Christmas with all the stories being Christmas-themed.
Charlie and the Christmas Factory and Other Stories is a collection of 12 short stories written by a star-studded cast of 13 authors, with characters all inspired by Roald Dahl’s most famous characters including the BFG, The Twits and Willy Wonka.
- Charlie and the Christmas Factory by Sibéal Pounder
- George’s Marvellous Medicine by Adam Kay
- The Gigantic Australian Crocodile by Adam Hills
- The Chrinklemas Phizzwizard by Nadia Shireen
- Matilda and the Naughty List by Elle McNicoll
- The Giraffe and the Pelly and the Runaway Baubles by Nathan Bryon
- The Witches’ Festive Flop by Pamela Butchart
- Sammy, Lisa and Danya, Campions of Christmas by Konnie Huq
- The Twits in the Great Carrot Caper by Greg James and Chris Smith
- Gran and the Magic Finger by Sally Rippin
- Jesse and the Giant Peach Stone by Ben Bailey Smith
- Fantastic Frankie Fox by Hannah Gold
In 1964 we were first introduced to Charlie Bucket, Willy Wonka and the famous chocolate factory. The nasty prank-playing Twits first jumped out of the pages in 1980 and 1982 saw The BFG (Big Friendly Giant) stride into our imaginations and dreams. In 2024, they are back along with some other favourite Dahl characters for some Christmas outings.
In Charlie and the Christmas Factory, Charlie is now running the chocolate factory. And it’s Christmas. Time to open the doors to the factory again with a festive spin on the classic tale. Candy canes instead of Gobstoppers, eggnog rivers, chocolate toothpaste and perhaps a Santa Claus who’s just as eccentric as Mr. Wonka himself. Violet, remember her? Well, she has captured a very important festive figure and Willy Wonka needs to put his glass elevator back into service to save try and save Christmas.
George, from George’s Marvellous Medicine, is now a granddad to 8 year old Gigi. Gigi doesn’t want to visit her granddad at Christmas as she thinks that it will be boring – that is until she decides Santa would rather drink something other than brandy on his deliveries and concocts her own marvellous medicine with disastrous effects.
We have all have all heard of the enormous crocodile, well welcome to the Gigantic Australian Crocodile! This croc wants lots of presents for Christmas, except that he is not liked by the other animals so gifts are not going to be plentiful. So he hatches a plan to steal the gifts off children from under their Christmas trees, but the other animals have other ideas.
The BFG and Sophie are back in The Crinklemas Phizzwizard, this time to deliver the best Christmas dream to the children in the orphanage.
The devourer of books is loving living with Miss Honey. Matilda writes a letter to Santa with her Christmas wishes but as she needs to deal with a school bully she fears it will bump her off the “Nice List” to the “Naughty List”.
The Ladderless Window Company and its employees, Giraffe, Pelly, Monkey and Billy are called into action again when giant Christmas baubles escape and race down London’s busiest shopping street, threatening to ruin the festivities.
Have you had any new teachers in your school recently? Well, in one school teachers have started to go missing and have been replaced with witches. And if that wasn’t bad enough, these witches HATE children and Christmas! They start to ban Christmas trees and jumpers until the children start to fight back to save Christmas.
Nearly 50 years ago we were first introduced to Danny, Champion of the World. Danny is now a father to twins Sammy and Lisa and is returning to Hazell’s Wood for the first time in over 20 years for another fight – to save the village from developers. This time, bats just might help save the day.
Those nastiest of nasty people The Twits are back again for some more horrible pranks. For the Twits it’s the season to be mean! Well, meaner than usual. They need carrots and come up with a plan to steal them from neighbouring houses and deny the chimney-bother (Santa) and his reindeers their favourite snacks – but it doesn’t quite go to plan. The Twits might just be in for a “Frozen” Christmas.
If you had a magic finger what would you do? In Gran and the Magic Finger a school bully feels the wrath of that finger when turned into a chicken. Can kindness help reverse the situation?
Do you remember James Henry Trotter, the boy with a giant peach stone? Of course you do. Well now he is back with his grandson, 10 year old Jesse. The Cloud-People are not happy with the way humans are affecting their lives and start to attack. With the aid of a giant catapult, one giant peach stone house and an endearing cast of characters with the giant ladybird, grasshopper, earthworm, spider, silkworm, glow-worm and centipede they must find a way to make peace.
The Fantastic Mr Fox is still around, still outwitting the three farmers. With Christmas approaching it is time for the underground animals to have their Winter Feast. But this time Mr Fox leaves the food gathering to his offspring. Dividing the tasks, he hands Frankie the job of getting the fattest, plumpest turkey from the farm. Shouldn’t be too much of a problem for the cunning vixen, except that she is a vegetarian. Not only must she come up with a plan to outsmart the farmers, she must also outsmart her father in the process and save the turkeys.
Overall, this is an excellent collection of short Christmas stories inspired by some of Dahl’s most-loved, and loathed, characters. The stories still reflect human nature in Dahl’s dark and twisted ways and are fun to read. Even if you have never read any of Dahl’s stories before, these will go down a treat. A delightful collection that brings together the magic of Roald Dahl’s beloved characters with the festive spirit of Christmas.
The stories do an excellent job of updating Dahl’s characters for the modern age and have excellent themes of creativity and imagination, family and friendship, kindness and generosity and plenty of Christmas spirit.
Written by 13 very different authors, each story is very Dahl-esque while at the same time being very unique. The stories are very engaging, fast-paced quick reads filled with humour, ensuring that readers remain captivated from start to finish.
Charlie and the Christmas Factory and Other Stories is a magical and heartwarming collection of short Christmas-themed tales that celebrates the festive season with a touch of Roald Dahl’s signature whimsy. Whether you’re a long-time fan of Dahl’s characters or discovering them for the first time, this book is sure to bring joy and laughter to your holiday celebrations.
I enjoyed reading it, resonating with old much-loved characters and seeing them updated for newer times.
An excellent Christmas read for children and Dahl fans.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £14.99 (Hardback) / £7.99 (Kindle)
Available to buy from Amazon here.
