Review: DRIVE by Stephanie Fournet
I have loved everything I’ve read from Stephanie Fournet, and DRIVE did not disa[...]
A Book and a Latte is pleased to be taking part in the Roald Dahl 100 Celebratory Blog Tour! Check out an excerpt from the book, enter the giveaway, and be sure to check to see if your city is holding events to celebrate!
2016 marks 100 years since the birth of Roald Dahl, the author of beloved stories such as Matilda, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and The BFG. Two of Roald Dahl’s most popular novels, James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, were written while Roald Dahl lived in the U.S. and were inspired by American culture—finding success here first before going on to become global bestsellers.
“If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.” — Roald Dahl
What happens when the hunter becomes the hunted?
To the Gregg family, hunting is just plain fun. To the girl who lives next door, it’s just plain horrible. She tries to be polite. She tries to talk them out of it, but the Greggs only laugh at her. Then one day the Greggs go too far, and the little girl turns her Magic Finger on them. When she’s very, very angry, the little girl’s Magic Finger takes over. She really can’t control it, and now it’s turned the Greggs into birds! Before they know it, the Greggs are living in a nest, and that’s just the beginning of their problems….
Excerpt from The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl
The farm next to ours is owned by Mr and Mrs Gregg. The Greggs have two children, both of them boys. Their names are Philip and William. Sometimes I go over to their farm to play with them.
I am a girl and I am eight years old.
Philip is also eight years old.
William is three years older. He is ten.
What?
Oh, all right, then.
He is eleven.
Last week, something very funny happened to the Gregg family. I am going to tell you about it as best I can.
Now the one thing that Mr Gregg and his two bots loved to do more than anything else was to go hunting. Every Saturday morning they would take their guns and go off into the woods to look for animals ans birds to shoot. Even Philip, who was only eight years old, had a gun of his own.
I can’t stand hunting. I just cant stand it. It doesn’t seem right to me that men and boys should kill animals just for the fun they get out of it. So I used to try to stop Philip and William form doing it. Every time I went over to their farm I would do my best to talk them out of it, but they only laughed at me.
I even said something about it once to Mr Gregg, but he just walked on past me as if I wasn’t there.
Then, one Saturday morning, I saw Philip and William coming out of the woods with their father, and they were carrying a lovely young deer.
This made me so cross that I started shouting at them.
The boys laughed and made faces at me, and Mr Gregg told me to go home and mind my own P’s and Q’s.
Well, that did it!
I saw red.
And before I was able to stop myself, I did something I never meant to do.
I PUT THE MAGIC FINGER ON THEM ALL!
Copyright © Roald Dahl, reprinted with permission from Puffin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House
In the Denver area?! Join the celebration!
*Tattered Cover Book Store– 2526 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO – Saturday Sept. 17 – 1-3PM—One of the largest independent bookstores in the US, Tattered Cover will have Roald Dahl-themed crafts, activities, Voodoo Doughnuts, and giveaways. In partnership with Alamo Drafthouse, there will be a Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory screening at 11.30AM.
There’s also events planned in these cities:
Austin | Boston | Los Angeles | New York | Portland | San Francisco
A quick Google search should lead you to them!
The celebrations will culminate in the biggest Roald Dahl birthday party of all time in bookstores, libraries, classrooms and public places across the country the weekend of September 17th.
About Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl (1916-1990) was born in Llandaff, South Wales, and went to Repton School in England. His parents were Norwegian, so holidays were spent in Norway. As he explains in Boy, he turned down the idea of university in favor of a job that would take him to”a wonderful faraway place. In 1933 he joined the Shell Company, which sent him to Mombasa in East Africa. When World War II began in 1939 he became a fighter pilot and in 1942 was made assistant air attaché in Washington, where he started to write short stories. His first major success as a writer for children was in 1964. Thereafter his children’s books brought him increasing popularity, and when he died children mourned the world over, particularly in Britain where he had lived for many years.The BFG is dedicated to the memory of Roald Dahls eldest daughter, Olivia, who died from measles when she was seven – the same age at which his sister had died (fron appendicitis) over forty years before. Quentin Blake, the first Children’s Laureate of the United Kingdom, has illustrated most of Roald Dahl’s children’s books.
You can download a more detailed bio, HERE.
Many thanks to Wunderkind PR for having us as part of the blog tour!
GIVEAWAY
ROALD DAHL 100 CELEBRATORY BLOG TOUR
September 5 – Peace Loves Books – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Excerpt
September 5 – The Compulsive Reader – Danny, The Champion of the World Review
September 5 – The Starry Eyed Revue – James and The Giant Peach Review
September 6 – Ex Libris Kate – The Witches Review
September 6 – Cracking The Cover – The Magic Finger Feature – Short Review and History
September 6 – Lost In Lit – The Witches Feature – Revisiting The Witches as an adult
September 7 – Cozy Reading Corner – Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator Excerpt
September 7 – The Plot Bunny – The Magic Finger Review
September 7 – Lilli’s Reflections – The Twits Excerpt
September 8 – The Irish Banana – Matilda Review
September 8 – Ticket To Anywhere – Danny, The Champion of the World Excerpt
September 8 – Cuddlebuggery – Quentin Blake’s Illustrations of Roald Dahl‘s Books Feature
September 8 – Beth Fish Reads – Going Solo Review
September 9 – Ravenous Reader – The BFG Excerpt
September 9 – Paper Cuts – The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me Excerpt
September 9 – The Lovely Books – The Witches Excerpt
September 9 – A Glass of Wine – James and the Giant Peach Excerpt
September 10 – Novel Novice – George’s Marvelous Medicine Excerpt
September 10 – YA Bibliophile – Fantastic Mr. Fox Review
September 10 – Watercolor Moods – The Magic Finger Feature – Collage
September 11- Jessabella Reads – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Review
September 11- Who R U Blog – Charlie and the Glass Elevator Feature – Trivia
September 12 – Belle of the Library – The Twits Review
September 12 – Book Mania Life – George’s Marvelous Medicine Review
September 12 – The Book Swarm – Danny, The Champion of the World Excerpt
September 12 – Book Belles – James and the Giant Peach Feature – Book to Movie
September 13- Roald’s birthday! – Brittany’s Book Rambles – Matilda Excerpt
September 13 – Roald’s birthday! – Mundie Kids – The BFG Review
September 13 – Roald’s birthday! – Read Now Sleep Later – Boy Excerpt
September 13 – Roald’s birthday – Consumed By Books – Matilda Excerpt
September 13 – Roald’s birthday – I Am A Reader – James and the Giant Peach Excerpt
September 13 – The Novel Life – Lessons that Roald Dahl has taught me feature
September 13 – The Book Rat – Esio Trot Excerpt
September 14 – Belle’s Bash – The BFG Excerpt
September 14 – WinterHaven Books – Esio Trot Excerpt
September 14 – A Book and A Latte – The Magic Finger Excerpt
September 14 – Hello Chelly – Matilda Feature – BookBags
September 14 – Loving Dem Books – Youtube Feature
September 15 – Writing My Own Fairy-Tale – George’s Marvelous Medicine Review
September 15 – The Book Bandit -The Giraffe, and the Pelly and Me Review
September 15 – Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile – Esio Trot Review
September 16 – Undeniably Book Nerdy – Boy Review
September 16 – Supernatural Snark – James and the Giant Peach Review
September 16 – My Friend Amy – Going Solo Excerpt
September 16 – The Quiet Concert – Danny, the Champion of the World Review
September 17 – Book Briefs – Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
September 17 – Andi’s ABCs – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Feature – ABCs
September 17 – Just Another Rabid Reader – The Magic Finger Review
September 18 – Bumbles and Fairy-Tales – Matilda Feature – Reading With Dad
September 18 – Addicted 2 Novels – Esio Trot Review
September 18 – Pure Imagination – Fantastic Mr. Fox Excerpt
September 19 – Bookiemoji – The Witches Excerpt
September 19 – Alexa Loves Books – Matilda Feature – Style Files
September 19 – Nightly Reading – Matilda Review
