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geerfear's review against another edition
3.0
Noteworthy mainly for its place in Disney history. The story itself definitely feels like the unfinished work that it is, but it is an interesting look at what might have been.
bmg20's review against another edition
5.0
The Storyline
“In this most beautiful green wood there lived a tribe of funny little people who were quite different from the rest. They had funny horns growing out of their funny heads and funny boots on their funny feet, and with these boots – and this was funniest of all – they could walk upside down under the branches of the trees. Oh, it was a happy and peaceful life that these little men led – until the humans came.”
And so begins the story of the Gremlins who were torn from their homes when the humans decided to build a factory for airplane production. The Gremlins knew it was time to act and ‘to get revenge for the loss of our homes. We will make mischief for them, and we will harry and tease the men who fly them, until we obtain some satisfaction for all the harm that has been done to us.’
The pilots finally figured out a way to appease these pesky Gremlins: feeding them Transatlantic-special-deliver-airmail stamps. By feeding them this delicacy, they were finally able to talk to the Gremlins and explain why they tore down their home and that it was to save their homes from all being destroyed. The pilot asked the Gremlins to help and that if they assisted and were victorious that they would give them a patch of forest back to them to be their new home.
Interesting Facts
This was actually the very first children’s book that Roald Dahl ever wrote. ‘The Gremlins’ is a story set in the 1940’s when we were in the midst of WWII. This story was originally meant to be a film by Walt Disney but was dropped and never completed but the book was still published. This is considered to be a quite rare book as fewer than 5,000 books were published worldwide.
Thoughts
This was an adorable book that I stumbled upon. Highly recommended to anyone given the opportunity to read it!
_rusalka's review against another edition
4.0
We have a copy of this book that was given to Dad when it was published. He was a boy in Yorkshire during the war, and someone had the good sense to give him this book. It's now 70ish years old, has been dropped in at least one bath we know of, made it's way from England to Australia, and is simply a little worse for wear.
But I am so glad it made this journey as it allowed me to read a book that no one else my family that I know of has read. As a kid, that was so incredibly cool!!
And it was a book my Dad loved so much that when I was little, I was showered in Roald Dahl's other books. And I couldn't have asked for much else.
But I am so glad it made this journey as it allowed me to read a book that no one else my family that I know of has read. As a kid, that was so incredibly cool!!
And it was a book my Dad loved so much that when I was little, I was showered in Roald Dahl's other books. And I couldn't have asked for much else.
hadders88's review against another edition
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
samiism's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't see the cover but I thought this was going to be a book about the gremlins that you don't feed at night. Still pleasantly surprised to see that it's the gremlins on planes. I saw a cartoon of this when I was a child. Animaniacs, probably?
Cute illustrations. The fifinellas, widgets, and spandules were interesting additions to the story.
Cute illustrations. The fifinellas, widgets, and spandules were interesting additions to the story.
virginiacjacobs's review against another edition
2.0
I was actually expecting something a bit more. I picked up this book because it was referenced by Lost in Shangri-la. Gremlins, for those of you not in the know, are these little creatures that run amok on airplanes causing all sorts of problems. The book was cute, but not much more than that.
thomcat's review against another edition
3.0
A cute simple story, and a great explanatory intro by Leonard Maltin. Not as subtle as Dahl's later work, but I'm glad I read it.
backonthealex's review against another edition
4.0
Gremlins are, of course, those pesky little creatures that only fliers can see and which wreck havoc on their planes. In Dahl’s version of the story, the Gremlins were living happily in a lush northern England wood when one day, some humans showed up with the big trucks and machinery. First, the humans cut down all the trees and rolled over the dirt until it was hard-packed. Then, they built a factory that produced airplanes. In the process, they destroyed all of the homes belonging to the Gremlins.
Now homeless and angry, the Gremlins vowed revenge and set about sabotaging pilots and their planes. This was proving to be a problem during World War II whenever the RAF pilots came up against the German pilots. The Gremlins seemed to be as much their enemy as the Germans.
One pilot named Jamface told another named Gus that he had his plane's Gremlin almost reformed by feeding him transatlantic postage stamps, a rare delicacy in the Gremlin world. Gus tried that method, but with no success and on his next flight, he and his Gremlin were forced to bail out of their plane, because of the Gremlins antics. They ended up in the English Channel and for three hours, Gus tried arguing and reasoning with his Gremlin and finally won him over.
But while Gus may have won his Gremlin over, that was not so for all of them. The next time he went up in his plane, with a 102° fever, Gus didn’t count on a large group of Gremlins working against him as well as a German Heinkel, whose pilot proceeded to shoot his plane up. Gus took two bullets in the leg and crash landed.
Gus spent a long time in hospital, thinking about Gremlins. He came up with a plan for reforming them by opening the first Gremlin Training School. The school had two courses – Initial Training and Advanced Training. The school flourished and grew as more and more Gremlins discovered they liked being good.
When Gus finally left the hospital, he was no longer fit for flying. But what good is an RAF pilot if he can't fly? Yet, try as he might, he continued to fail the medical test for flying. Seeing his distress, the Gremlins decided to help Gus. Word went out to all Gremlins that on the day and time of the next medical exam, they were to show up and help Gus pass the exam. And so they did and Gus was able to return to doing what he loved - flying.
Gremlins were well known among RAF pilots, who talked about them all the time. After all, it was very convenient to blame them for everything that went wrong. Capitalizing on this superstition, Dahl wrote The Gremlins, after he has been invalided out of active duty in 1942. After Dahl finished his story, Walt Disney considered making it into a movie, even bringing Dahl out to Hollywood to discuss the matter. But the movie was never made, though no one really knows why.
The text of The Gremlins was written by Dahl but the illustrations were done by artists working for Disney, who own the copyright on them. Only 50,000 copies were originally printed in 1943, so copies were scarce. But in 2006 the book was finally reproduced in volume and is still relatively easy to come by.
Dahl had joined the Royal Air Force in November 1938. He later wrote about his early flying experiences in a children’s book called Going Solo. After many flying mission that resulted in being honored with the title flying ace, Dahl was invalided out of active duty due to severe headaches. He spent the rest of the war in Washington DC doing intelligence work. Dahl was invalided out of the RAF in 1946.
Though Dahl wrote for both adults and children, it is mainly his children’s book for which he is most known.
This book is recommended for readers age 10 and up.
This book was read at the NYPL.
Now homeless and angry, the Gremlins vowed revenge and set about sabotaging pilots and their planes. This was proving to be a problem during World War II whenever the RAF pilots came up against the German pilots. The Gremlins seemed to be as much their enemy as the Germans.
One pilot named Jamface told another named Gus that he had his plane's Gremlin almost reformed by feeding him transatlantic postage stamps, a rare delicacy in the Gremlin world. Gus tried that method, but with no success and on his next flight, he and his Gremlin were forced to bail out of their plane, because of the Gremlins antics. They ended up in the English Channel and for three hours, Gus tried arguing and reasoning with his Gremlin and finally won him over.
But while Gus may have won his Gremlin over, that was not so for all of them. The next time he went up in his plane, with a 102° fever, Gus didn’t count on a large group of Gremlins working against him as well as a German Heinkel, whose pilot proceeded to shoot his plane up. Gus took two bullets in the leg and crash landed.
Gus spent a long time in hospital, thinking about Gremlins. He came up with a plan for reforming them by opening the first Gremlin Training School. The school had two courses – Initial Training and Advanced Training. The school flourished and grew as more and more Gremlins discovered they liked being good.
When Gus finally left the hospital, he was no longer fit for flying. But what good is an RAF pilot if he can't fly? Yet, try as he might, he continued to fail the medical test for flying. Seeing his distress, the Gremlins decided to help Gus. Word went out to all Gremlins that on the day and time of the next medical exam, they were to show up and help Gus pass the exam. And so they did and Gus was able to return to doing what he loved - flying.
Gremlins were well known among RAF pilots, who talked about them all the time. After all, it was very convenient to blame them for everything that went wrong. Capitalizing on this superstition, Dahl wrote The Gremlins, after he has been invalided out of active duty in 1942. After Dahl finished his story, Walt Disney considered making it into a movie, even bringing Dahl out to Hollywood to discuss the matter. But the movie was never made, though no one really knows why.
The text of The Gremlins was written by Dahl but the illustrations were done by artists working for Disney, who own the copyright on them. Only 50,000 copies were originally printed in 1943, so copies were scarce. But in 2006 the book was finally reproduced in volume and is still relatively easy to come by.
Dahl had joined the Royal Air Force in November 1938. He later wrote about his early flying experiences in a children’s book called Going Solo. After many flying mission that resulted in being honored with the title flying ace, Dahl was invalided out of active duty due to severe headaches. He spent the rest of the war in Washington DC doing intelligence work. Dahl was invalided out of the RAF in 1946.
Though Dahl wrote for both adults and children, it is mainly his children’s book for which he is most known.
This book is recommended for readers age 10 and up.
This book was read at the NYPL.
ndjrpgs's review against another edition
1.0
The first (Children) story he's ever written - meant for a Walt Disney movie which never happened. This shows because the story is missing Roald Dahl's unique style and heart. Unfortunately a letdown for me.
Believathon II: Journey to the Stronghold. The Deepwoods: Read a book that was published before 2000!
Believathon II: Journey to the Stronghold. The Deepwoods: Read a book that was published before 2000!