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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Beware! Beware! The Forest Of Sin!
None come out, but many go in!
Aren't Roald Dahl's books magical??
I treated myself to the fill collection for my birthday and decided to read Billy and the Minpins tonight.
I have never read this book so I was seeing this with fresh eyes and oh boy could you imagine being young and meeting people who lived in the trees behind your house growing up. You could visit them. They use the birds as transport. This is just a magical story that I couldn't put down.
I loved the Minpins so much and wish we could have learned more about them. A great start to my Roald Dahl journey. I look forward to the next one
None come out, but many go in!
Aren't Roald Dahl's books magical??
I treated myself to the fill collection for my birthday and decided to read Billy and the Minpins tonight.
I have never read this book so I was seeing this with fresh eyes and oh boy could you imagine being young and meeting people who lived in the trees behind your house growing up. You could visit them. They use the birds as transport. This is just a magical story that I couldn't put down.
I loved the Minpins so much and wish we could have learned more about them. A great start to my Roald Dahl journey. I look forward to the next one
The story was sweet, but the illustrations were absolutely out of this world brilliant!
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Il Roald Dahl fuori di testa che si inventa mondi in un metro quadro e li popola di follie buffe e spaventose.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Firstly, this is a book that tells kids not to listen to their mothers. And where did he pluck the devil out of that then vanished for the rest of the story? also when little Billy hears that the Minpins are in danger from the monster his first thought is, I'll kill that. Worried about what little Billy grew into.
Perhaps it is because I am an adult reading this for the first time but I fount the story boring. Having said that I had enjoined James and the Giant Peach as a child, trying to read it as an adult I had to DNF it. The only part I enjoined of this was the illustrations.
Perhaps it is because I am an adult reading this for the first time but I fount the story boring. Having said that I had enjoined James and the Giant Peach as a child, trying to read it as an adult I had to DNF it. The only part I enjoined of this was the illustrations.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The final book in my Roald Dahl box set, Billy and the Minpins, is a fun little read and a nice way to finish off the collection. Not by coincidence, this is also Dahl’s final piece of fiction and was published posthumously under the original title The Minpins. While there’s nothing particularly catchy or inventive in this story (hello, Lilliputians!), it’s still an enjoyable children’s book.
Like all the other books in the box set, this edition is illustrated by Quentin Blake. What’s notable about this, however, is that Blake did not illustrate the story until it was republished as Billy and the Minpins in 2017. Even though Blake had been illustrating editions of Dahl’s work since 1976, The Minpins was the only children’s book Blake had not illustrated; Patrick Benson was the original illustrator for the 1991 release.
Thus, as Blake remarks in a note at the end of the book, this edition is smaller and set with a higher page count to allow room for Blake “to draw every single thing that happens.” And draw he did—every page spread has at least one delightful illustration.
I very much appreciated the full spreads, as the pictures capture the mood and movement of the story. The drawings of the Minpins dressed in their old-fashioned Elizabethan-esque clothing are whimsical and surprisingly detailed and really bring these tiny people to life.
One quibble I have with this edition is the printing quality. Portions of some pictures have bled onto the opposite page, creating ghost images—the crook of an elbow here or the scrawled lines of a curtain there. I hadn’t noticed this detail in the other books of the collection, and I was disappointed the most heavily illustrated book has this minor distraction.
As for the story itself, it’s an upbeat tale of an adventurous boy overcoming a cloud-of-death-breathing monster. The monster as antagonist is a nice change from many of Dahl’s stories that pit children against either abusive caregivers or creatures who are ugly inside and out. Dahl’s wordplay is absent from the narrative save for the description of the monster, and for that lack, the writing feels a bit bland.
Nevertheless, Billy and the Minpins, with Blake’s lovely illustrations, is a fine piece to conclude Dahl’s eminent body of children’s literature. The story’s ending sums up well the theme running through all of Dahl’s children’s books and is a wonderful message for young readers:those who believe in magic will find the world’s greatest secrets in the most unlikely of places .
Like all the other books in the box set, this edition is illustrated by Quentin Blake. What’s notable about this, however, is that Blake did not illustrate the story until it was republished as Billy and the Minpins in 2017. Even though Blake had been illustrating editions of Dahl’s work since 1976, The Minpins was the only children’s book Blake had not illustrated; Patrick Benson was the original illustrator for the 1991 release.
Thus, as Blake remarks in a note at the end of the book, this edition is smaller and set with a higher page count to allow room for Blake “to draw every single thing that happens.” And draw he did—every page spread has at least one delightful illustration.
I very much appreciated the full spreads, as the pictures capture the mood and movement of the story. The drawings of the Minpins dressed in their old-fashioned Elizabethan-esque clothing are whimsical and surprisingly detailed and really bring these tiny people to life.
One quibble I have with this edition is the printing quality. Portions of some pictures have bled onto the opposite page, creating ghost images—the crook of an elbow here or the scrawled lines of a curtain there. I hadn’t noticed this detail in the other books of the collection, and I was disappointed the most heavily illustrated book has this minor distraction.
As for the story itself, it’s an upbeat tale of an adventurous boy overcoming a cloud-of-death-breathing monster. The monster as antagonist is a nice change from many of Dahl’s stories that pit children against either abusive caregivers or creatures who are ugly inside and out. Dahl’s wordplay is absent from the narrative save for the description of the monster, and for that lack, the writing feels a bit bland.
Nevertheless, Billy and the Minpins, with Blake’s lovely illustrations, is a fine piece to conclude Dahl’s eminent body of children’s literature. The story’s ending sums up well the theme running through all of Dahl’s children’s books and is a wonderful message for young readers:
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fitting that Dahl's last work also happened to be the last (at least among his Children's books) one to complete my sister's and my collection of Roald Dahl books but I haven't read a lot of his books that we already own.
This was a fun story. Quentin Blake's illustrations have always been my favorite since childhood so having his art in almost every page was just perfect. Good story, would have been better if it was longer but at least this one has a very clear lesson.
This was a fun story. Quentin Blake's illustrations have always been my favorite since childhood so having his art in almost every page was just perfect. Good story, would have been better if it was longer but at least this one has a very clear lesson.