Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Rating:
Summary: Wonka carries another terrific book
Review: "From fifty yards away, a full grown Vermicious Knid could stretch out its neck and bite your head off without even getting up!"
"Bite your head off with what?" said Grandma Georgina "I didn't see any mouth."
"They have other things to bite with," Mr. Wonka said darkly.
"Such as what?" said Grandma Georgina.
"Ring off," said Mr. Wonka. "Your time's up. But listen, everybody. I've just had a funny thought..."

This magical sequel picks up where Charlie and the Chocolate Factory left off, with Charlie bursting through the top of the Wonka factory in a flying glass elevator. After a quick stop to pick up Charlie's family, they fly off into space, eventually finding themselves in conflict with the White House and with a race of hungry space aliens.

This book is not quite as grounded as the first one; since it starts off flying around in an elevator, we know right off that this won't be a very realistic tale. But Dahl really pours on the humor and the thrills, which keeps us turning the pages as quickly as we can.

We return to more familiar ground later in the book, when Charlie's family returns to the chocolate factory and find it to be every bit as thrilling and dangerous as their encounters in space.

I believe that this is the only sequel Dahl ever wrote, and I wish all sequels were as good as this one. On the one hand, he does seem to fall a bit into the trap of making things bigger and better in the hopes that it will make up for the sheer originality of the first book. On the other hand, the book is far more bizarre than the first one, and at times takes on an eerie surreality akin to The Phantom Tollbooth.

It's hard to find a more entertaining character than Willy Wonka, who is fiercely cheerful and unpardonably rude, but always to those who deserve it. It's not many characters who can seemingly take pleasure from the act of annoying a trio of bedridden octagenarians and come out of it with more goodwill than he went in with.

Dahl has a talent for children's books unlike any other author. That talent is on full display here, and this book is as highly recommended as his other works.


Rating:
Summary: Visit Willy Wonka¿s Wondrous World Again!
Review: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Visit Willy Wonka's Wondrous World Again!
* * * * * (5 Stars)
I chose this book because when I looked at the cover I thought it was cool. The cover shows and elevator flying up in space, so I thought it would be about space and cool inventions. The book wasn't like that at all. It was about Mr. Wonka, a man who owns a chocolate factory, and Charlie, a kid who will be getting the chocolate factory, and Charlie's family. They go into space and help people from dying and as a reward having a party. Since the book was different from the cover, I do like what's in the book better than the cover and the idea of the cover.

Mr. Wonka, Charlie and Charlie's family got into an elevator and ended up in space. They stayed in a Space Hotel for a day and later had to save it from space aliens. This book is for children 8 - 10. I couldn't put this book down. It is a great way of using your imagination. This fantasy is written by Roahld Dauhl.

I liked imagining what aliens looked like, and how they saved the space hotel.

You'll miss out if you don't read this book!

Rating:
Summary: The best book ever
Review: Have you ever imagined an elevator that could fly? Charlie, in the book Charlie and the Great Glass elevator, went flying through space and time. Charlie and his family discovered the U.S.A. space hotel where they met three pilots being attacked by knids. A problem arises when the pilots can't get down to earth without burning up into ashes. There are to conflicts in this book: getting away from the knids and save grandma from minus land. The authors message in this book is "if you work hard at something you can get there". I would give this book a 5 star rating for its excitement and suspense. You should read this suspenseful book to find out what happens to Charlie and his family.

Rating:
Summary: It was okay...
Review: I agree with some reviewers in that mostly all of what the book talks about is the glass elevator and Charlie's grandparents. It does state nothing about what Charlie did after all of this with his new chocolate factory, but I disagree with those who say that book was awful. I enjoyed reading it, despite the above complaints. It was very well written, and interesting to read, althought I would have liked to read about what Charlie did with his inheritance.

Rating:
Summary: When Charlie Bores Me!
Review: Roald Dahl was one of the most brilliant children's novelists of all time, and his masterpieces "Danny the Champion of the World," "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" still stand up to repeated readings by kids and adults alike. "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator," however, is best forgotten. Supposedly a sequel to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," this one does not come up to the first book at all. This tends to be the case with many sequels, but this one even goes so far as to tarnish the original it follows, by veering what was a splendid story into a realm so absurd and outlandish that it loses the vital toehold on believable reality that made the first book so endearing, magic and all. The first chapter, entitled "Mr. Wonka Goes too far," might be applied to this whole story, in which the author sends the characters (none of whom are as likeable as they were in the first book) into outer space to battle space aliens, and off to the White House to wrangle with the U.S. government, and other nonsense that has nothing to do with the first book and its accessible fun. I prefer to read "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" on its own and not to acknowledge that it even has a sequel. Kids may enjoy some of the silliness here, but few will remember it or treasure it like they will do with some of Dahl's other books.

Rating:
Summary: The best book ever
Review: This book is not that good. Because there aren't too many things happeningin the begining. And then it just switches subject and another thing happens instead. Somrtimes it's very funny but when it's not funny, it's a very boring book.
However the characters in the book are guite good. My favorite character is mr. Willy Wonka. He is very funny and he's never scared.
I don't recommend this book to anyone, but if you want to read it it is better to read "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" first.

Rating:
Summary: Fun and imaginative
Review: This is a good book. I enjoyed following the Bucket family (eventually EVERYONE gets aboard, even the bed), after Charlie wins the factory. Crazy things continue to happen. Analogies to real life, imaginative things, and bizarre things continue to be pictured before your eyes.
Books like this are fun to read aloud to your children or to any kid.
I docked the book one point only because the beginning is a bit slow and because it's not quite as fun as the chocolate factory.

Rating:
Summary: strange sequel
Review: We were so excited to get this sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but were quickly bemused and disappointed. The first half takes up where the previous book left off, with Charlie, Grandpa Joe and Mr. Wonka in the glass elevator, and it quickly gets bizarre, but not necessarily in a good way. The elevator goes into outer space and the president comes into the story and a spaceship, and we get too many distractions from Charlie and Wonka. The second half is better, but I would not recommend this sequel.