The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl – Book Review

On By MischenkoIn Animals, Children's Books, Fiction, Reads

The Magic Finger

by Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake (Illustrator)
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Summary from Goodreads:

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…

My Thoughts:

The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl is a story about a girl with a magic finger. She lives next door to the Gregg family who like to hunt for fun, and this makes her very angry. She doesn’t think it’s right for people to hunt animals for fun, and when she gets angry, her finger takes control. Her magic finger has a special lesson in store, but the big problem is not knowing exactly what will happen when she uses it.

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The story teaches a huge lesson to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I read this with two of my younger children, and we all enjoyed it. It’s certainly thought-provoking and inspired an entire conversation with my family about eating meat and how we should be responsible and care for the animals we have. It will also get you thinking about why it’s important to control your disposition because actions always have consequences.

5*****

Find this on Goodreads and Amazon
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  • Paperback
  • Publisher: Puffin (July 2, 2013)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0141346515
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141346519

About Roald Dahl

4273.jpgRoald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer and screenwriter of Norwegian descent, who rose to prominence in the 1940’s with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world’s bestselling authors.

Dahl’s first published work, inspired by a meeting with C. S. Forester, was Shot Down Over Libya. Today the story is published as A Piece of Cake. The story, about his wartime adventures, was bought by the Saturday Evening Post for $900, and propelled him into a career as a writer. Its title was inspired by a highly inaccurate and sensationalized article about the crash that blinded him, which claimed he had been shot down instead of simply having to land because of low fuel.

His first children’s book was The Gremlins, about mischievous little creatures that were part of RAF folklore. The book was commissioned by Walt Disney for a film that was never made, and published in 1943. Dahl went on to create some of the best-loved children’s stories of the 20th century, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matildaand James and the Giant Peach.

He also had a successful parallel career as the writer of macabre adult short stories, usually with a dark sense of humour and a surprise ending. Many were originally written for American magazines such as Ladies Home Journal, Harper’s, Playboy and The New Yorker, then subsequently collected by Dahl into anthologies, gaining world-wide acclaim. Dahl wrote more than 60 short stories and they have appeared in numerous collections, some only being published in book form after his death. His stories also brought him three Edgar Awards: in 1954, for the collection Someone Like You; in 1959, for the story “The Landlady”; and in 1980, for the episode of Tales of the Unexpected based on “Skin”. – Goodreads

Thanks for reading my review of The Magic Finger. Do you like Roald Dahl? Feel free to comment with thoughts and suggestions. Have a wonderful weekend!

32 thoughts on “The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl – Book Review”

  6. I’ve not read this one, but it sounds like we should! Kayley and I just finished James and the Giant Peach the other day and are reading The Witches right now…she LOVES Roald Dahl…we just read Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory together within the last couple of months too, and she read BFG by herself. Next on our list is Fantastic Mr. Fox, but I’ll have to get this one too! Thanks for sharing Jenn! 🙂

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      1. I think I’m just going to have to get on Amazon and buy all his books instead of just ordering them one at a time, lol. The Witches is good! I remember reading it when I was a kid! We both really loved James and the Giant Peach, but I totally freaked because it had the word “ass” in it several times, LOL. I guess I never realized that, hahaha! It was a shock for a children’s book. and my daughter was like, “that’s a bad word”! I was laughing my you know what off! I’m surprised they published that, but oh well! I had to share that! Have you seen that in any of his other books? Hugs!! ❤

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        1. Yes! I somehow remember that about ‘ass’ now that you mention it. My kids haven’t read that one yet, but I’m surprised they published that too! 😆 I’ve read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, and a few others. My oldest daughter loved Matilda too. I also recently read Revolting Rhymes. Some of his stuff is pretty crazy. I need to finish reading Switch Bitch which is an adult book. That one was surprisingly weird lol!

          You’ll have to let me know what you guys read next! I hope you enjoy them all. 😙💗

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        2. Yeah, it was the centipedes way of insulting other animals or bugs, lol. We just finished Matilda a few weeks ago and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory around Christmas. They read BFG in her class, which is what got her on a Roald Dahl obsession, lol. We’ve got Fantastic Mr. Fox to read once we’re done with The Witches and then she wants to read A Wrinkle in Time, yay!!! I’m super excited about that since it was a childhood fave!! I’ve not read Revolting Rhymes, but yeah, his stuff is crazy! I bet his adult stuff is weird, especially with a name like that, hahaha!! ❤

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  10. starjustin

    I enjoyed reading this one for sure! I’m reading Matilda now. Great author. It’s nice that you included the illustrated video of the book making it easy for others to enjoy. Awesome post Jen! 📙🐦💚

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  12. Great review Jenn. Roald Dahl was such a great author. He always had a message, but it was incorporated in such fun stories that it wasn’t like preaching. Kids often get what he is saying without any guidance from adults. I like that you and your kids read together and have such great discussions. You are a great mom.

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    1. Carla, you are so sweet to say that! I do love reading with my kids and it’s fun to revisit some of my favorites from when I was a kid. I feel lucky really! I agree that Roald Dahl is a great author and we’ve loved everything we’ve read by him so far. I’m glad you like him too. Take care and thanks for checking out my review. ❤ 😀

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