A zany cookbook for young readers offers simple, step-by-step recipes for such delicacies as Bruce Bogtrotter's Sensational Chocolate Cake or Stinkbug Eggs.
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.
Great for a Halloween party! This is the type of book that would be great to use for that scary movie marathon when you know you are going to need munchies! I am a big Roald Dahl fan - so I have to admit I am kind of partial to this book. Check out the fun recipe ideas for your next creepy party - you will be glad you did!
For me this was an entertaining, though wildly impractical cookbook. There are some clever recipes, including Lickable Wallpaper, which appears to be concocted from some sort of homemade fruit leather, and The Enormous Crocodile, made of more ingredients than most Martha Stewart recipes.
Unless your children will eagerly gobble up artichokes, frozen spinach, and cucumbers stuffed with tuna, this will be a look-through only cookbook.
My kids, both members in good standing of The Picky Eaters Club, would never touch a thing in this book . . . except maybe Bruce Bogtrotter's Cake:
It looks kind of to-die-for. And, with 6 eggs in the mix . . . you just might keel over . . . with a smile on yer face!
Well, and as far as general entertainment value goes, the recipe names and many of the imaginative accompanying photographs presented in this literary cookbook, shown in Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes have certainly hit the spot for me so to speak (as I definitely have very much enjoyed reading over the recipes, looking at Quentin Blake’s artwork, smiling at how imaginative and full of whimsy many of the photographs tend to be and of course also searching for the recipes in the respective Roald Dahl novels).
However, with regard to Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes as an actual and bona fide cookbook (and indeed one geared towards children), with featured recipes to try to make (and to consume), I unfortunately have been for the most part rather disappointed. For one, while many of the recipe suggestions (and yes, all of them, as already alluded to above, do seem to have definitely been gleaned from Roald Dahl novels) actually and mostly do sound delicious, they also and equally are for the most part not really all that healthy in scope and nutritious looking, with often high fat, heavily meat based or laden with white sugar ingredients (fine perhaps for an occasional treat, but really, on the whole, Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes is kind of too much into celebrating unhealthy, lacking in nutrition food ingredients and this is especially problematic considering the target audience, considering children). And for two, since Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes is obviously supposed to be (at least in my opinion) geared towards younger readers (children), far far too many of the featured recipes seem to require difficult and sometimes even potentially dangerous for novice cooks instructions and equipment (for yes, and as an example, I would certainly be very leery letting any child attempt to make fudge and having to use a candy thermometer, for I know from trying to make candy as a novice adult cook that this is not only difficult but mishaps and the potential for burning oneself are indeed high).
Therefore, while Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes does have a certain amount of charm, I actually do not think it succeeds all that well as far as it being a cookbook (and I thus also very much doubt that I am also sufficiently interested trying the second book, Roald Dahl's Even More Revolting Recipes).
Amazing book!! I've wanted this for ages and not been able to find it so am very pleased to own it now. I'm a huge Roald Dahl fan and will be proud to put this with my cookbooks!!
Introduction from Felicity Dahl, 1994. Roald and Felicity Dahl came up with the idea of "a book for children, based on the many wonderful and varied foods that appear in his books.", shortly before Dahl died. Roald Dahl encouraged (challenged) his second wife to find a way to produce this cookbook. And she did.
Baldwin's photos and Blake's images merge to humorously illustrate the recipes, with Blake incorporating some of Dahl's iconic characters. But it's just the recipes. No funny anecdotes. No book excerpts. Just the recipes.
This edition is a paperback of around 60 pages. As such, it is a book that will struggle to last the test of time, if frequently used, and will struggle to be used, flat, in a working kitchen with children. The recipes range in skill from a novice Peach Juice and Stink Bugs' Eggs to working with hot sugar in marshmallow or toffee, and deep frying doughnuts and onion rings. As such, this isn't a cookbook you would hand to a child and say "Go for it!". Many, if not most, recipes will require some adult supervision.
Note oven temperatures are in Farenheit, measurements/quantities are in ounces, inches, sticks, and include Rich Tea biscuits, Rice Krispies, semisweet chocolate, confectioners' sugar. New chefs may find the conversions and language difficult, and require extra forethought and support.
Age Cook Together: 4+ (selected recipes while working with an adult) Cook Yourself: 10+ (again, selected recipes according to skill level, confidence, and safety)
I found the majority of these recipes to be overly complicated and unappetizing! There are 31 in the book and I would consider trying three or four of them at best. It was fun to look at though and certainly doesnt take long to read....
They are actual recipes?! (that takes the 1 star off, but it's Dahl can't rate him lower than a 4, it's a good book but its... its...REAL!!) Is this the universe nudging me to finally learn to cook? Oh well.
Quetin Blake's illustrations are wonderful as ever; they take me right back to the best of my childhood, giggling the days away with a Roald Dahl book.
Note to self: Reread BFG and Twits. I don't remember bits and that's a SHAME.
I received this book as a present when I was about 9 or 10 and probably drove my parents crazy asking them to help me make all the recipes in it (and buy the ingredients of course!)
The book consists of recipes from many of Roald Dahl's most famous children's novels. Including "snozzcumbers" from The BFG, "Lickable Wallpaper" from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, "Mr Twit's bird pie" from The Twits and many, many more! The book is beautifully illustrated with Quentin Blake's signature illustrations and each recipe has easy to follow, step-by-step instructions. Not to mention the fact that the recipes I have tried have been delicious!
I think that this book could be used in some lovely follow-on activities. After reading one of the Roald Dahl stories with a class you could then go on to make one of the recipes in a food tech session, a brilliant way of linking food tech and literacy (The only drawback I can think of with this is that not all of the recipes are particularly healthy!)
While it is not a book that can be read to children as part of a story telling session I think it does have a place in every primary classroom! Even if not used for its original purpose, it will be regularly picked up from a book corner as children really enjoy looking at the pictures and flicking through the fascinating, magical and (more often than not) truly revolting recipes!
Baldwin's photos and Blake's images merge to humorously illustrate the recipes, with Blake incorporating some of Dahl's iconic characters. Surrounding the recipes are excerpts and quotes from Dahl's books. A much nicer blending of the books with the the recipes for fans of Dahl.
"Cook's notes: These recipes are for the family to enjoy making together. Some could be dangerous without the help of an adult. Children, please have an adult with you when you are using knives, handling anything hot or using a food processor." p.3
This edition is ring-bound with a hardcover and 128 pages. It's nice to use in a kitchen, lies flat. And is lovely and colourful. A much nicer to use cookbook than Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes.
The recipes range in skill from novice Peach Juice and Stink Bugs' Eggs to working with hot sugar in marshmallow or toffee, and deep frying doughnuts and onion rings. As such, this isn't a cookbook you would hand to a child and say "Go for it!". Many, if not most, recipes will require some adult supervision. However, it is a cookbook designed for a child's palette. The flavourings are simple, the ingredients readily available and approachable. But the actual success of the recipes is somewhat varied.
This would make a great cookbook to base a birthday party around, but be prepared to play with the recipes a little - test them first!
Recipes are, however, rated by ability: 1 hat = easy peasy 2 hats = you might need some help 3 hats = tricky but tasty
Recipes and matching books: The Giraffe And The Pelly And Me Spitsizzlers Tummyticklers Glumptious Globgobblers Nishnobblers Butter Gumballs Sherbet Slurpers Plushnuggets Pishlets Devil's Drenchers Blue Bubblers
James and the Giant Peach Crispy Wasp Stings on a Piece of Buttered Toast Stink Bugs' Eggs Mosquitoes' Toes and Wampish Roes Most Deliciously Fried Scrambled Dregs Fresh Mudburgers and Onion Rings Boiled Slobbages Hornets Stewed in Tar
The Magic Green Crystal A Plate of Soil with Engine Oil Hot Frogs Peach Juice
The BFG The Royal Breakfast for growing giants Grobswitchy Cakes Frobscottle
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Hair Toffee to Make Hair Grow on Bald Men (for mums to make only) Toffee Apples Willy Wonka's Crunch Surprise Candy-Coated Pencils for Sucking in Class Hot Ice Cream for Cold Days Strawberry-Flavoured Chocolate-Coated Fudge Stickjaw for Talkative Parents Wonka's Whipple-scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight Luminous Lollies for Eating in Bed at Night Liquid Chocolate Mixed by Waterfall Fizzy Lifting Drinks Butterscotch
Age Cook Together: 4+ (selected recipes while working with an adult) Cook Yourself: 10+ (again, selected recipes according to skill level, confidence, and safety)
This is actually what it says it is...a recipe book. The fact that it includes the drawings typically found in Roald Dahl's other tales is icing on the cake (pun intended). Some of the recipe titles are gross enough that I'm not sure I'd make these dishes, but they'd be just the ticket to interest a picky child who likes the "gross" factor. Dahl's wife worked out actual recipes with titles of some of the food mentioned in his stories. Here are a couple of samples: "Mosquitoes' Toes and Wampfish Roes Most Delicately Fried" (from 'James & the Giant Peach'), or maybe "Lickable Wallpaper" (from 'Charlie & the Chocolate Factory'). Some of the dishes' actual ingredients are good enough I'd consider making the dish. One I'd make just for looks but not for eating is the "The Enormous Crocodile" (baguette with almonds for teeth, covered with frozen chopped spinach, and hard eggs for eyeballs with olives for pupils). Very fun stuff!!
This is a real cookbook, not a joke. But still it is hard for me to rate. The recipes are real, and most look delicious. They can be made to look revolting, or of course they can be made more simply. They can be made with the (occasional) special ingredients, or they can be made with some substitutions.
However they are mostly either fried, sweet, or rich in meats (or all three). They often require a food processor, sometimes a candy thermometer, and skilled dangerous work that I wouldn't let a child under 12 do without plenty of help (not just supervision).
The illustrations are a hoot, with photographs that do help. There is an index. And several recipes are ones that I would try if I still was cooking for a family of active ppl, instead of ppl who are being more careful of what they eat.
I received this book as a Christmas gift this year. What a fun book! I am excited to share these recipes with my granddaughter this coming summer! And one of his books...Maybe I will start with my favorite...The Fantastic Mr. Fox! "Boggis' Chicken" recipe is basically Chicken and Dumplings! And Bunce's Doughnuts sounds like something she would eat! It's a fun book and now I understand why the kids at my school library enjoyed reading this book! I just wish there would have been a bit of a summary about each of Dahl's books that were mentioned. The kids could then go and sign out the corresponding book to the recipe they are interested in trying. That would have been a great way to promote these wonderful stories!
As a child this was one of my favourite recipe books--not that I was a fan of Ronald Dahl by any means--although I always enjoyed reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory--but just for the crazy and fascinating recipe ideas themselves! Also, a lot of the foods and sweets mentioned in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory were included in this book, everything from the sugar-coated pencils for licking in class to the hot ice cream for cold days, and I loved trying them out!
This is an odd and entertaining recipe book that reflects some of the unusual cuisine in Roald Dahl's books. The recipes actually look quite good, despite titles like Stink Bugs' Eggs, Fresh Mudburgers, Lickable Wallpaper, Frobscottle, and Hair Toffee to Make Hair Grow on Bald Men. All of the different courses are covered, from Starters to Main Courses to Confectionery. I didn't get to make any of the recipes, but I thought it was a fun cookbook.
December 2013 update: Our girls read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for their local kids' book club and so we borrowed this book as well as Roald Dahl's Even More Revolting Recipes to look at the different recipes and find one to share with the other children in the club. We chose to make Strawberry-Flavored Chocolate-Coated Fudge (the first recipe from this book, on pages 8-9) and it came out great.
In school I made Frobscottle and Snozcumbers. In The BFG, Fobscottle was delicious and Snozcumbers were disgusting. When you make them out of real food, it's the other way around. True story.
I only tried a few of the recipes, mostly I loved looking at the pictures. Of the ones I tried, the Bruce Bogtrotter cake was the best - very rich and decadent.
I received this for Christmas! What a fun cookbook! OMG! Roald Dahl found a way to make any recipe good fun! One can imagine him whippin' up some pancakes for his family... I'll guarantee you that it would be pure fun to be a mouse in the corner watching as Roald found various ingredients and thought... "Why not!" lol. Of course, it's wonderfully illustrated! I wanted this for my cookbook collection. It just wouldn't be complete without "Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes"! lol.
I've tried multiple recipes. The first one, the strawberry fudge, wouldn't set. The second one, the doughnuts, were tasty but more like biscuits. The toffee apples: the recipe says "turn up the heat and boil, about 25 minutes". It got burned after 3 minutes and the heat wasn't even that high. The butterscotch: quite ok but after a couple of hours the butter stopped being dissolved/ became lumpy. The only recipe we did like was Matilda/ Bruce's chocolate cake.
These are HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean who would think of such a revolting twist to the normal Cinderella story. And i mean these rhymes are also brilliant for plays. Just incredibly funny! I loved them!
1. Awards the book has received (if any):None 2. Appropriate grade level(s)-1st-2nd 3. Original summary- An interesting cookbook filled with recipes from Roald Dahl's most famous stories. Illustrations are typical for a Roald Dahl story and show what ingredients are used, and what the outcome should look like. 4. Original review- A fun spin on teaching children how to follow a recipe. 5. 1-2 possible in-class uses -Cooking/baking activity -Create your own cookbook
This is a must for Dahl fans young and old. I read so many of his books when I was a kid and have had the pleasure of watching my children become fans also. Now we can share our mural love for his stories over recipes from them. I can’t wait to try the snozzcumbers and frobscottle.
I can’t wait to go through these with my kids when we read through Roald Dahl’s books. These recipes are disgusting and totally perfect for kids. I can’t imagine a better way to make memories as we read some of the stories that go along with the recipes.
It really is a recipe book–not much to read through–but I did enjoy the foreword about the book's inception and I love Quentin Blake's work. A fun option for Ronald Dahl lovers with unconstrained appetites.
There is a serious thing to be noted if you have vomiting issues do not read this book as Ronald Dahl’s this book will surely create an image of this utterly disgusting food items, this is the way Dahl brings out humour to us in by many disgusting things.
This book contains very interesting recipes! At first glance, they might sound gross, but they are actually good and they look legit. I mean, I've read several cook books with questionable recipes. This book is truly a gem.