George's Marvelous Medicine / The Twits / The BFG

by Roald Dahl

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Humor, School

Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Roald Dahl was a beloved British author, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter pilot, best known for his enchanting and often darkly humorous children's books that have captivated generations of readers around the world. Born in Llandaff, Wales, to Norwegian parents, Dahl led a life marked by adventure, tragedy, creativity, and enduring literary success. His vivid imagination and distinctive storytelling style have made him one of the most celebrated children's authors in modern literature.
Before becoming a writer, Dahl lived a life filled with excitement and hardship. He served as a Royal Air Force pilot during World War II, surviving a near-fatal crash in the Libyan desert. His wartime experiences and travels deeply influenced his storytelling, often infusing his works with a sense of danger, resilience, and the triumph of the underdog. After the war, he began writing for both adults and children, showing a rare versatility that spanned genres and age groups.
Dahl's children's books are known for their playful use of language, unforgettable characters, and a deep sense of justice, often pitting clever children against cruel or foolish adults. Some of his most iconic titles include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG, James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr Fox, and The Witches. These works are filled with fantastical elements and moral undertones, empowering young readers to challenge authority, think independently, and believe in the impossible.
Equally acclaimed for his work for adults, Dahl wrote numerous short stories characterized by their macabre twists and dark humor. His stories were frequently published in magazines such as The New Yorker and later compiled into bestselling collections like Someone Like You and Kiss Kiss. He also wrote screenplays, including the James Bond film You Only Live Twice and the adaptation of Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Despite his literary success, Dahl was a complex and sometimes controversial figure, known for his strong opinions and difficult personality. Nonetheless, his books continue to be treasured for their wit, originality, and the sense of wonder they inspire. Many of his stories have been adapted into successful films, stage plays, and television specials, further cementing his legacy.
Dahl's impact on children's literature is immeasurable. His ability to connect with young readers through a mix of irreverence, heart, and imagination has made his stories timeless. Even after his death, his books remain in print and continue to be read by millions of children worldwide. His writing not only entertains but also encourages curiosity, courage, and compassion.
Roald Dahl's work lives on as a testament to the power of storytelling and the magic of a truly original voice. He remains a towering figure in literature whose creations continue to spark joy, mischief, and inspiration across generations.

Reviews

[Evan Yang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but good

[Bookflower · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome writer, really like the writing style and is a pretty funny book

[Ashlee G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't think I would like this book but this book made me pretty engaged. This book was about a boy named George and his family. His mom's mom, or grandmother, lives with him. Mr. and Ms. Kranky along with George did not like her very much. She was a selfish, rude, and demanding person. She didn't care about anyone other than herself. So George decided he wanted to get revenge on her. He did that by mixing a bunch of things together that would make her have some type of reaction. He was hoping that this medicine would cure her selfishness but it didn't. This medicine just helped in a few other ways. This book was a pretty quick read. It is also fantasy because it involves magic

[Nathan Sizemore · Rating 4 out of 5]

82/100

I just read George's Marvelous Medicine. Not sure why this listing if for a volume of all three.

I love the idea of people making magical solutions in stories and then adding to them or trying to recreate them. It's the kind of story I gravitate toward if I'm telling a bed-time story straight out of my head.

That said, do you think Roald Dahl was at all nervous about publishing a story where a boy feeds anti-freeze to his grandma? I hope so.

[Rebecca Radnor]

First, Derek Jacobi could read the telephone book and make it sound good. The man's one of the best actors on the planet. So it's not his fault. The story just didn't do it for me. I found it highly annoying.

[Davis Wendel · Rating 5 out of 5]

George’s marvelous medicine is a great funny story that I could read every day. It is so silly and fun you could not do it in real life but in the authors head it could all happen 😀

[Yuki T · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a story about a boy called George and his grandma. He hates this old woman. Most grandmas are "Do you want to buy anything?" or "How was your school today?" but not this one. She never ever gets out of her chair and groans and whines.
One day when his parents were out, he had a great great GREAT plan to get rid of that horrid woman. Make a poisonous medicine that could almost kill her. He puts paints, shampoos, toothpaste, food for animals, food colouring and lots more. Then the medicine time comes!!! She drinks it, then.........
I really like this story because George's idea is really great and marvellous because first of all it does not cost anything, second of all you can find them in the house and third of all you can make it in your house.

[Brianna]

I have been reading George's Marvelous Medicine. It has been a great book so far. It is very funny book. I think this book ius mostly for kids. The book turns out be about George making his grandma a medicine that will change her for good. That is as far as I have goten on the book so far.

[Laela · Rating 2 out of 5]

the main plot of this book is a little boy being mean and trying to poison his grandmother. I just can't get into that.

[ATheReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good children's story and perfectly paced. I read this in about 30 minutes and enjoyed it. (But I am not the target age range, so my review is not as important as children's opinions.)

[Rebecca Han · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: George’s Marvelous Medicine
Author: Roald Dahl
Illustrator: Quentin Blake
Genre: Transitional chapter book
Theme(s): Experimentation, animals, figures
Opening line/sentence: “I’m going shopping in the village,” George’s mother said to George on Saturday morning.
Brief Book Summary: George’s mother is out to shop and George is left all alone in the house with his grouchy grandmother. His grandmother’s grouchiness elevates and George reaches the conclusion that she needs a stronger medicine to cure her grouchiness. Ideas spark in his mind and he gets on making an ultimate remedy-a marvelous medicine for his grandmother.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
• Helen J. Pavick
• Children’s Literature
• http://www.clcd.com.ezaccess.librarie...
• Roald Dahl promises to delight young readers in this colorful account of how George, a boy perpetually harassed by his wicked grandmother, seeks revenge by concocting a "special" medicine just for her! George is not quite prepared for the consequences he "stirs up," and he loses control of the situation within a matter of seconds. The results are hilarious, as the chickens start laying gigantic eggs, farm animals become huge, and his parents come home to see Grandma growing through the roof! Fans of Roald Dahl will recognize in George's Marvelous Medicine the magical writing style that earned him the title "one of the most beloved storytellers of our time," and will find themselves cheering for George as he flounders through all kinds of crazy antics. 1997 (orig. 1991), Puffin, $4.99. Ages 10 up. (PUBLISHER: Puffin Books (New York:), PUBLISHED: 1998.)
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
• Name not mentioned
• Publishers Weekly
• http://www.clcd.com.ezaccess.librarie...
• In a typically wicked Dahl outing, a lad named George does away with his nasty grandmother by giving her a concoction that he brews from a mixture that includes shampoo, shaving cream and floor polish. Ages 7-11. (Sept.) (PUBLISHER: Puffin (New York:), PUBLISHED: 1991 c1981.)
Response to Two Professional Reviews:
The two professional reviews do not quite line up since one reviews the book and the other one provides a brief summary. Both reviews provide summaries, but Children’s Literature review includes how this book is well received by young children. I agree with Children’s Literature review that this books can be very entertaining for young children because of George’s eccentric yet original attempts to create a marvelous medicine for his grandmother.
Evaluation of Literary Elements:
It is worth noting two literary elements, character and plot, from What Is a Good Book? (Tunnell, Jacobs, Young, & Bryan, p. 18). The character itself is very interesting because he is a creative and imaginative boy who is ready to experiments with his thoughts. This character draws children to the storyline because his thoughts and actions are unconventional and entertaining which make the plot also fun.
Consideration of Instructional Application:
Children can engage in cooking lessons incorporating George’s clever approach to remedy grouchiness. For instance, children can make their own marvelous cookies that will alleviate any negative feelings by adding a variety of ingredients. At the end of the cooking session, children can try their own unique cookies and see if they are marvelous and cure any negative feelings.
Reference:
Tunnell, Jacobs, Young, & Bryan. (2011).

[Alexandra Topitzes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Level: 4.0

Book Level/ Guided Reading Level: Q

George’s Marvelous Medicine is a Modern Fantasy Fiction book for children that paints a fascinating a colorful story about a young boy who concocts a magical potion meant to transform the attitude of his crabby grandmother. Of course, as is typical with magical potions, things don’t go exactly as planned!

This book would be an ideal read aloud for middle elementary grades to explore the genre of modern fantasy in English Language Arts. Within those lessons, the teacher could incorporate further English Language Arts instruction by using George’s Marvelous Medicine to model comprehension strategies like visualizing, summarizing, inferencing and so on. On an individual basis, this would be a great book for a teacher to recommend to a student who has enjoyed other Roald Dahl stories for independent reading. Additionally, this text would also be a good mentor text to demonstrate the writing traits of sentence fluency, word choice (I particularly like how the author’s word choice allows the reader to make vivid pictures in their head about what is happening in the story), ideas and presentation, for students during writing workshop mini lessons.

On an unrelated side note, I still remember reading this book in Elementary School and absolutely loving the fun story and language! I do not remember what unit it was part of or what lessons accompanied it, but I just remember that I loved it!

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

What else I can say? I absolutely love Roald Dahl writing style and vocabulary. The cheeky dialogues and unexpected response makes me smile and there may or may not be dark humor in it 😶‍🌫️ but we love it
Though I do advice you to keep away from children who might learn a thing or two from it (the characters usually aren't exactly nice to each other) especially if you don't want your kids mixing up all the household items to create a jolly medicine.
Every Roald Dahl story has some small yet unexpectedly turn which makes me question everything 😂 but again that's what makes his books worth reading

[Seas the Day in 2nd Grade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is totally ridiculous! It's full of magic, potions, a mean grandmother, and just plain silliness & laughter! George is making a marvelous medicine for his grandmother, because he wants to make her mood change for the better. To make the medicine, George uses a large pot & scavenged the house collecting random items to use in his medicine. However, George didn't measure or record any of the items he used to make the medicine. It didn't work out the way George had planned, but the effect was interesting... As you see, this book is totally INSANE!

[Bahman Bahman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Roald Dahl (September 13, 1916 to November 23, 1990) was a British author who penned 19 children's books over his decades-long writing career. In 1953 he published the best-selling story collection Someone Like You and married actress Patricia Neal. He published the popular book James and the Giant Peach in 1961. In 1964 he released another highly successful work, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was later adapted for two films.

[Julie Halfen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think people must like this book for nostalgic reasons. I didn't find it funny. My son, age 6, didn't find it funny. We were both horrified by the boy mixing all sorts of unsafe things together. Then grandma just vanishes at the end? What kind of a message is that? My son was very thankful to have loving grandmas in his life. I guess that's a good thing to get from a book, but wasn't exactly what I was going for.

[Laura Guilbault · Rating 1 out of 5]

A story about a little boy who hates his grandmother so much, he decides to make her a new type of medicine to cure her wickedness. So he goes around the house putting in soaps and toxic ingredients including hair removal, antifreeze, paint and animal medicines.
Unnecessarily long, tedious and a little disturbing.

[Priyanshi Bansal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always love roald dahl, i read this book when I was 13 and at that time this book was my favourite. Then I started reading more books as I got more interest after this story. And the animal medicine label have me weak, that was so lmao. If you guys don't know what to dictate to kids so here's the story.

[Sara Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was okay, there were parts I liked, however it seemed to drag some parts on longer. I wish that there had been more to the story, but it was not bad. I think students would enjoy this and think it is funny. It is also one that would work well as a read aloud.

[Ellie Acton · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite character is George because he is very curious. What surprised me was the ingredients he put in medicine, and what it did. I would change the ending because it didn't really make sense to me.

[Hayden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favourite Roald Dahl stories! Silly, imaginative, whimsical, fun and never a boring moment because it is such a well written tale of a boy getting his commupence on an abusive relative (a staple in Dahl's work). Love it!

[Rebecca Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roald Dahl is a master and this book would have cracked me up as a kid. As an adult I'm just super worried someone is going try this at home and feed their grandmother antifreeze. I have become a fun-killer, but otherwise this is supremely well written.

[Shreya · Rating 4 out of 5]

“George’s Marvellous Medicine” is a interesting and entertaining book which I think everyone will enjoy. George is a mischievous an kind boy who lives with his horrid granny.He soon finds a way to make a potion using so many’s different things. I encourage everyone to read it.

[Hannah Rose]

Favorite character George. What surprised you the most That he made stuff grow out of the medicine. would you change the ending why or why not yes because i wanted him to remake the medicine completely.

[Maddy Recondo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this one with my students. It was a hit and they loved all of the experiments with grandma and the chickens trying the new medicines. They were so excited to keep reading! The giggles were endless.

[MSreader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel all of Roald Dahls books are weird. Engaging like another reviewer said, but to me, definitely weird. I wouldn't want my kid to read about poisoning their grandmother! But as always, Roald Dahl has interesting and odd books!

[Shreya · Rating 4 out of 5]

“George’s Marvellous Medicine” is a interesting and entertaining book which I think everyone will enjoy. George is a mischievous an kind boy who lives with his horrid granny.He soon finds a way to make a potion using so many’s different things. I encourage everyone to read it.

[Jake Chang · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought about the grandma got into trouble because of Georges medicline

[Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amusing if a bit non-PC nowadays.

[Merriam Leirose Tidoso · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just Love his Style! But i didnt Like the George grandmother’s role 😂